New England governors' energy effort on hold

BOSTON -- A nearly year-long effort by New England's governors to collectively address the region's high energy costs is on hold now that some have voiced concerns about the initiative's dual strategy of importing Canadian hydropower and investing in new natural gas pipelines.

Energy officials from the six states have been developing a proposal that would impose federal tariffs on electric ratepayers to finance the energy infrastructure projects. But the group — the New England States Committee on Electricity — has decided to hold off on the process for at least a month.

The governors had planned to present their tariff scheme, which would ultimately need approval from federal regulators, to a regional association of power companies and users by early September.

But Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick is seeking a delay while his administration analyzes different energy scenarios, including those that would not require the construction of extensive natural gas pipelines.

"We clearly do want to continue working with our fellow New England states on a regional solution," Krista Selmi, spokeswoman for Patrick's office of Energy and Environmental Affairs, said this week. "But we really do need to look at what our needs are at this point."

Massachusetts is a seen as a key piece of the regional plan since it accounts for nearly half of New England's total electricity consumption.

Maine Gov. Paul LePage's administration says it's "deeply concerned" by the development, which comes as other governors have expressed reservations. LePage, in a letter sent to other New England governors last week, called on Patrick to reconsider his stance.

"We all recognized the problem and we moved forward together," Patrick Woodcock, director of the Maine governor's energy office, said this week. "We can't back away. We need to address regional energy challenges with regional energy infrastructure."

This winter, state officials say, New England can expect to see a continuation of 2013's dramatic rise in energy costs, when the total value of the region's wholesale electric energy market reached about $8 billion, compared to just $5.2 billion in 2012.

Patrick and the other governors say they're still committed to a regional solution.

But Rhode Island says in the meantime it's looking into other ways to address its energy challenges, either individually or with a small group of states.

"The problems are serious enough that we have to explore all options," says Nicholas Ucci, chief of staff for Gov. Lincoln Chafee's Office of Energy Resources. "The best and most cost effective way to achieve our goals is to work together as a region, and we'll do that, to the greatest extent possible. But, in the same vein, as some doors close, new doors open."

Connecticut Governor Dannel Malloy said through a spokesman he believes the expansion of regional natural gas pipelines and transmission line infrastructure is still the "best way" forward.

"The problem our region faces is greater than one state can solve alone," said Andrew Doba, Malloy's communications director.

A spokesman for New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan said her administration will only back proposals that reduce costs to ratepayers and "respect state siting requirements and protect natural resources." Hassan opposes the "Northern Pass" transmission line project that would send Canadian hydropower through the Granite State.

Vermont Gov. Peter Shumlin, meanwhile, wants to make sure the region does not make unnecessary energy infrastructure investments and "builds only what it needs, where it needs it," said Susan Allen, Shumlin's Deputy Chief of Staff.

Lebanon's Arabic press digest – Aug. 21, 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-Akhbar

ISIS insists on swap deal

ISIS militants still insist that a deal to swap 10 Islamist prisoners held in Lebanese jails for the release of all Lebanese captives is on the table.

Al-Liwaa

Short-term Parliament extension

Ministerial sources told Al-Liwaa that Parliament’s extension will be for a short period and is non-binding and will be linked to holding the presidential election at the earliest opportunity.

More to follow ...

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Advocates bash plan requiring jobs for food stamps

AUGUSTA, Maine -- Advocates for the poor urged Gov. Paul LePage's administration Wednesday to scrap a plan that would require people to have a job to receive food stamps.

The Republican governor's administration said the goal is to ensure that recipients become economically independent. But at a public hearing on the proposed change, advocates warned that the plan will cause many recipients to lose their benefits because they can't find a job, and as a result, go hungry.

Clara Whitney of the Good Shepherd Food Bank said the proposal — expected to affect about 12,000 Maine residents — would force people to choose between paying for food and things like heat and electricity. She said it would force more people to seek help from food pantries, which already are strapped for money and resources.

"It's unrealistic to think that food pantries could pick up the pieces after this policy change is implemented," Whitney said.

The administration announced last month that it will no longer seek a federal waiver that has allowed jobless people to continue receiving benefits in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

The federal government gives the waiver to states with high unemployment rates or a lack of jobs. Maine has used the waiver since 2010 and still qualifies for it, according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

Under the administration's plan, most recipients between ages 18 and 49 would have to work at least 20 hours a week, do volunteer work or participate in a work-training program, or they would lose their benefits after three months.

Officials say they will work to help recipients meet the requirement by providing things like job-search training.

Adrienne Bennett, a spokeswoman for LePage, said the administration is not looking to take away benefits, but rather to help recipients find a job.

"Training and education are ways to life someone put of poverty," she said. "It's about helping people find work and giving them long-term economic stability."

How the Dow Jones industrial average did Wednesday

The stock market rose for a third straight day Wednesday despite a report from the Federal Reserve that showed a growing chorus of central bank officials willing to raise interest rates sooner rather than later. In the bond market, prices fell and yields rose as investors prepared themselves for higher interest rates.

On Wednesday:

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 59.54 points, or 0.4 percent, to 16,979.13.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 4.91 points, or 0.3 percent, to close at 1,986.51.

The Nasdaq composite fell 1.03 points, or 0.02 percent, to 4,526.48.

For the week:

The Dow is up 316.22 points, or 1.9 percent.

The S&P 500 index is up 31.45 points, or 1.6 percent.

The Nasdaq is up 61.56 points, or 1.4 percent

For the year:

The Dow is up 402.47 points, or 2.4 percent.

The S&P 500 index is up 138.15 points, or 7.5 percent.

The Nasdaq is up 349.89 points, or 8.4 percent.

EEOC files lawsuit against Food Lion over firing

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed a workplace discrimination lawsuit against supermarket chain Food Lion, saying it refused to provide time off for a worker who is a Jehovah's Witness and then fired him.

The complaint was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court.

According to the complaint, Victaurius L. Bailey was hired as a meat cutter at a Food Lion in Winston-Salem on June 6, 2011. Bailey is a minister and an elder, and is required to attend church services and church-related meetings. As a result, Bailey asked not to be scheduled for Sundays or Thursdays.

Bailey's manager accommodated him, but he was transferred to a Food Lion store in Kernersville, where the manager said he didn't see how Bailey could work for Food Lion if he couldn't work on Sundays.

The complaint said Bailey was then fired, three weeks after he was hired.

In its complaint, the EEOC seeks back pay, compensatory damages, punitive damages and injunctive relief.

Food Lion spokeswoman Christy Phillips-Brown said the Salisbury, North Carolina-based chain hasn't seen the complaint and couldn't comment.

Inside Fed, what to tell markets a nagging question

By Kevin G. Hall McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON -- The Federal Reserve is still months away from ending its controversial purchase of bonds to stimulate the economy, but minutes released Wednesday for the July monetary-policy meeting show growing concern about how to communicate Fed goals with financial markets.

The purchase of trillions of dollars of government and mortgage bonds has made some investors nervous that the bond buying was akin to printing money and will eventually spark hard-to-control inflation. Financial markets, for now, are more worried about where prices for stocks and bonds settle once the Fed’s stimulus ends.

Fed governors, the minutes from the July 29-30 meeting showed, worry about how they properly communicate next steps in monetary policy once the bond-buying ends in October. Once the purchases end, the Fed can revert back to trying to influence the economy through the traditional method of its benchmark federal funds rate.

There was general agreement that the Fed is likely for some time to keep that rate at a .25 percent, sometimes referred to as 25 basis points. The fed funds rate reflects what banks ideally charge each other for overnight lending, and it serves as a reference for commercial banks when they set the prime rate charged to their healthiest borrowers.

Where members of rate-setting Federal Open Market Committee did not completely agree is whether the fed funds rate is the only tool with which to conduct monetary policy. Some members felt that in keeping rates low well into the future, the Fed can effectively conduct monetary policy also through the rate of interest on excess reserves that banks park at the Fed. Lower interest paid by the Fed would encourage banks to seek a higher profit through investment or lending.

Other members, however, felt this approach ultimately would prove confusing to financial-market participants.

There was also a question of what do with all those bonds already purchased.

“Participants also discussed approaches to normalizing the size and composition of the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet,” the minutes said. “In general, they agreed that the size of the balance sheet should be reduced gradually and predictably.”

That discussion underscored what an unusual period the U.S. economy has traversed since the financial crisis and Great Recession began in late 2007. Even after the Fed stops buying bonds, it will have billions of dollars of securities on its books and must decide whether to sell them back into the market or let them expire upon maturity. The Fed must also decide when and how quickly it will stop reinvesting the profits of its bond holdings.

On the economy, the minutes noted that participants said improvement in the labor market over the past year “had been greater than anticipated and that labor market conditions had moved noticeably closer to those viewed as normal in the longer run.”

The state of the labor market and monetary policy are expected to be topics of discussion in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where Fed Chief Janet Yellen and central bankers from across the globe meet beginning Thursday at an annual summer retreat.

China factory index falls to 3-month low in August

HONG KONG -- A survey says Chinese factory activity expanded in August at a slower rate, suggesting the recovery in the world No. 2 economy is losing momentum.

The HSBC preliminary purchasing managers' index fell to a three-month low of 50.3 from 51.7 in July.

The index is based on a 100-point scaled on which numbers below 50 indicate contraction.

China's economy had been showing signs of revival after a slowdown, with growth edging higher to 7.5 percent in the April-June quarter. But the report on the country's vast manufacturing industry shows the recovery is uneven.

Communist leaders in Beijing have already unveiled small-scale stimulus to prop up growth. HSBC economists said "more policy support is needed to consolidate the recovery."

The final version of the survey is due Sep. 1.

Mormon school removes gay-marriage cards at store

SALT LAKE CITY -- Greeting cards celebrating same-sex marriages turned up at the Brigham Young University bookstore Tuesday.

Placed by Hallmark, the cards reading "Mr. and Mr." and "Mrs. and Mrs." were quickly removed when bookstore staff discovered them after photos surfaced online. The outside vendor stocked the shelves without realizing the school wouldn't want to sell the cards marketed to buyers celebrating unions between two brides and two grooms, BYU spokeswoman Carri Jenkins said.

It wasn't immediately clear when they were placed, but Jenkins said they weren't up long. BYU staffers have spoken with the company about leaving similar cards off university store shelves in the future. The school doesn't plan on ending its contract with Hallmark.

"This was just someone stocking the shelves who wasn't aware," she said. "We've been able to work with them."

Asked why they were removed, Jenkins referenced the BYU honor code. It states that while being attracted to people of the same gender doesn't violate the honor code, acting on those feelings is a violation.

"Homosexual behavior includes not only sexual relations between members of the same sex, but all forms of physical intimacy that give expression to homosexual feelings," it states.

BYU is owned by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, which has stood behind its belief that marriage should only be between a man and a woman despite a growing societal movement in support of legalizing gay marriage.

Calls to Hallmark weren't returned Wednesday.

Samy Galvez, president of the group Understanding Same Gender Attraction (USGA) and a senior at BYU, said changes to the honor code in 2007 and 2010 allowed students to talk about their sexual orientation without fear of being expelled.

Though he declined to comment on the greeting cards, calling it an accident, Galvez said he's generally found a welcoming environment at BYU.

"I was really amazed to see how welcoming and how loving people are," he said. "Even though you know people adhere to a standard of conduct of not advocating for same-sex marriage, at the same time that doesn't mean they aren't capable of showing empathy."

Business Highlights

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Yellen to give her outlook as Fed honeymoon fades

WASHINGTON (AP) — Janet Yellen has won credit for guiding the Federal Reserve's first six months of transition from the Ben Bernanke era. Bernanke's Fed had steered the economy through a deep crisis by slashing interest rates and restoring confidence in banks. Yellen has so far carried on his approach with barely a hiccup.

She may one day recall her first six months as a too-brief honeymoon.

The perilous question that now awaits Yellen's Fed has put investors on nervous alert: Can it manage to raise rates from record lows without weakening the U.S. economy or spooking markets?

Or, conversely, will it wait too long to raise rates, causing the economy to overheat and inflation to surge?

---

Global cruise lines set sail for China

HONG KONG (AP) — Royal Caribbean's newest ship has attractions not usually seen on cruise liners, including bumper cars, a skydiving simulator and a glass observation capsule on a mechanical arm that lifts its passengers high into the air.

What's also a surprise is the vessel's intended home port: Shanghai.

After floating out of a German shipyard last week, the $935 million Quantum of the Seas will spend the winter running between New York and the Caribbean before moving to its new base next summer in mainland China's financial center.

It's a gutsy move for the world's second biggest cruise company. Cruise operators have traditionally sent older vessels to developing countries while saving their most advanced ships for U.S. and European customers. But surging growth in China means it's a market operators can no longer ignore.

---

APNewsBreak: BofA reaches $17B settlement with US

WASHINGTON (AP) — Bank of America has reached a record $17 billion settlement to resolve an investigation into its role in the sale of mortgage-backed securities before the 2008 financial crisis, officials directly familiar with the matter said Wednesday.

One of the officials, who spoke with The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the announcement isn't scheduled until Thursday at the earliest, said the bank will pay $10 billion in cash and provide consumer relief valued at $7 billion.

The deal is the largest settlement arising from the economic meltdown in which millions of Americans lost their homes to foreclosure. It follows agreements in the last year with Citigroup for $7 billion and with JPMorgan Chase & Co. for $13 billion.

---

Women small business owners struggle to get loans

NEW YORK (AP) — Women are a growing force in the business world, but if they own a company, they may still struggle to get a loan from a bank.

Carrie Charlick and Marcia Cubitt have $4 million in sales but have been rejected for $500,000 credit lines since 2012. Their 11-year-old company, Essential Body Wear, sells women's underwear at parties at customers' homes. That's a problem for bankers, Charlick says. Because the business, based in the Detroit suburb of Commerce Township, doesn't have a traditional structure and sells directly to the public rather than retailers, banks keep saying no.

Male loan officers have also made inappropriate comments about the fact the company sells lingerie. Charlick is convinced that they have a problem with women-owned businesses.

---

Target cuts outlook as breach fallout lingers

NEW YORK (AP) — Target Corp. slashed its annual profit outlook for the second time in three months as the retailer reels from a massive customer-data breach, a botched Canadian expansion and sluggish U.S. sales.

The nation's third-largest retailer also said Wednesday that its second-quarter earnings dropped 61.7 percent. Excluding expenses related to the data breach, earnings per share came in a penny short of Target's reduced estimate, issued earlier this month.

The latest results highlight the challenges that new CEO Brian Cornell, a former PepsiCo executive who officially started at Target Aug. 12, faces on all fronts.

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Apple's stock bounces back to hit a new high

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Apple's stock touched a new high Wednesday, reflecting investors' renewed faith in CEO Tim Cook's ability to outwit the competition and expand the technological hit factory built by the late Steve Jobs.

The milestone represents a dramatic turnaround in sentiment since Apple's shares reached its previous split-adjusted peak of $100.72 in September 2012. After hitting $101.09 Wednesday afternoon, shares closed up 4 cents at $100.57. That gave Apple a market value of $602 billion — by far more than any other publicly held company.

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Macy's to pay $650,000 in shopper-profiling probe

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Macy's has agreed to pay $650,000 to settle allegations of racial profiling at its flagship store in Manhattan's Herald Square.

Under the agreement signed Tuesday with New York's attorney general, the retailer will adopt new policies on police access to its security camera monitors and against profiling, further train employees, investigate customer complaints, keep better records of detentions and report for three years on its compliance.

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said the settlement should help ensure customers are treated equally regardless of race or ethnicity at the retail giant's 42 department stores statewide.

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Warren Buffett's firm to pay $896,000 penalty

OMAHA, Nebraska (AP) — Warren Buffett's company has agreed to an $896,000 penalty for failing to tell regulators about a December 2013 investment in wallboard maker USG Corp. beforehand.

The Federal Trade Commission said Wednesday that Berkshire Hathaway Inc. should have notified the U.S. Justice Department before it converted $325 million of senior USG notes it held into 21.4 million shares of the company.

Because Berkshire was already a significant USG shareholder, antitrust laws required it to notify regulators because of the size of the deal. At the end of June, Berkshire held just over 39 million USG shares.

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Brine firm sues over biblical fracking billboard

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — An Ohio man who uses a biblical reference and a statement against "poisoned waters" on billboards opposing wells for disposal of gas-drilling wastewater is fighting a legal threat from the Texas well owner on free-speech grounds.

Austin, Texas-based Buckeye Brine alleges in a July lawsuit that the billboards paid for by Michael Boals, of Coshocton in eastern Ohio, contain false and defamatory attacks against its two wells, which dispose of contaminated wastewater from oil and gas drilling.

The complaint by the company and Rodney Adams, who owns the land and operates the well site, contends the wells are safe, legal and meet all state safety standards. The parties object to statements on two billboards along U.S. Route 36, including one that "DEATH may come."

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Cowboys worth more than $3 billion, tops in NFL

NEW YORK (AP) — The Dallas Cowboys are the first U.S. sports franchise to top $3 billion in value.

For the eighth straight year, the Cowboys are worth the most of all 32 NFL franchises, according to Forbes. They're valued at $3.2 billion; only Real Madrid at $3.4 billion is worth more among global franchises.

Dallas posted the NFL's highest revenue, $560 million, and operating income, $246 million. That was far ahead of second-place New England, worth $2.6 billion and with $428 million in revenues, $147 million in operating income.

But the Patriots had the biggest increase since last year, up 44 percent in value. Dallas was up 39 percent.

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By The Associated Press=

The Dow Jones Industrial average rose 59.54 points, or 0.4 percent, to 16,979.13. The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose 4.91 points, or 0.3 percent, to close at 1,986.51. The Nasdaq composite fell 1.03 points, or 0.02 percent, to 4,526.48.

Benchmark U.S. oil gained $1.59, or 1.7 percent, to $96.07 a barrel. Brent crude, a benchmark for international oils imported by many U.S. refineries, rose 72 cents to $102.28 a barrel in London. Wholesale gasoline added 1.72 cents to $2.713 a gallon. Heating oil rose less than a penny to $2.826 a gallon. Natural gas fell 5.4 cents to $3.823 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Yellen to give her outlook as Fed honeymoon fades

WASHINGTON -- Janet Yellen has won credit for guiding the Federal Reserve's first six months of transition from the Ben Bernanke era. Bernanke's Fed had steered the economy through a deep crisis by slashing interest rates and restoring confidence in banks. Yellen has so far carried on his approach with barely a hiccup.

She may one day recall her first six months as a too-brief honeymoon.

The perilous question that now awaits Yellen's Fed has put investors on nervous alert: Can it manage to raise rates from record lows without weakening the U.S. economy or spooking markets?

Or, conversely, will it wait too long to raise rates, causing the economy to overheat and inflation to surge?

No one knows. Which helps explain the anticipation surrounding Yellen's speech Friday at the economic conference sponsored every August in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, by the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City. Given that this year's topic is labor markets, Yellen is sure to spell out her latest assessment of the U.S. job market.

Whatever she says — or, perhaps, doesn't say — will shape perceptions of when and how aggressively the Fed will raise rates.

Yellen has frequently characterized the job market as weaker than the unemployment rate suggests. She's noted, for example, that the jobless rate, now a nearly normal 6.2 percent, belies other unhealthy trends: Weak pay growth, a sizable number of part-timers who want full-time work and high proportions of people who've been looking for a job for more than six months or have stopped looking.

Might Yellen describe those trends as chronic problems with no end in sight? Or as likely temporary drags on the job market, destined to fade as the economy further improves? Investors will seek any sign of a coming rate hike because it would mean higher rates on business and consumer loans and could hurt stock prices.

At Jackson Hole, Bernanke would sometimes use his speeches to telegraph actions the Fed was considering. Yellen could take the opportunity to shed light on the Fed's plans for withdrawing the extraordinary economic support it's provided since 2008.

"The road ahead will get much tougher for Yellen when she starts outlining the Fed's exit strategy," said David Jones, chief economist at DMJ Advisors and the author of a book on the Fed's first century. "Any change could be accompanied by significant market instability."

This year, the Fed has been paring its monthly bond purchases, which have been intended to keep long-term rates low. Yellen has stressed that even after the bond purchases end this fall, the Fed will keep rates low and maintain its vast investment portfolio to keep downward pressure on rates.

The impending end of the purchases — a step investors once anticipated with dread — is now being taken in stride. The market has remained calm, and stocks are up this year, suggesting that Yellen's reassurances have had an effect.

That said, her first six months haven't been without stumbles. Consider her first news conference. Responding to a question, Yellen said that when the Fed stated it would keep its benchmark rate ultra-low for a "considerable time" after its bond purchases end, that phrase meant around six months.

Stocks sank on fears that rate increases could start sooner than expected.

Asked about her six-month comment at her next news conference, Yellen de-coupled the phrase "considerable time" from any specific period.

"It depends on how the economy progresses," she explained.

Diane Swonk, chief economist at Mesirow Financial, said Yellen was trying to be clear without perhaps recognizing how much a Fed chair's words can be over-interpreted.

"Yellen is a much clearer speaker than past Fed chairmen," Swonk said. "But Yellen learned the dangers from being too clear. She will never use the words 'six months' again."

Yellen has appeared comfortable fielding reporters' questions. She's also withstood grilling from members of Congress. Where Bernanke's voice would sometimes quaver under hostile questioning, Yellen has remained cool and has parried any attacks in a calm voice that hints of her native Brooklyn.

"It would be a grave mistake for the Fed to commit to conduct monetary policy according to a mathematical rule," Yellen explained to the House Financial Services Committee after some Republicans pressed her to back legislation to compel the Fed to follow a policy rule in setting rates.

Expressing the frustration that some Republicans say they feel about expanded Fed influence over the economy, the committee chair, Jeb Hensarling, R-Texas, told Yellen that "a dramatic increase in power calls for a corresponding increase in accountability and transparency."

Yellen has stressed that the unorthodox steps the Fed took to fight the recession were needed to put people back to work. She has sought to reverse any perception that the Fed distributed billions to prop up big banks during the financial crisis while doing little to help people who had lost jobs.

"Our goal is to help Main Street, not Wall Street," she declared in her first speech as chair. She spoke of "shattered lives and families" from high unemployment and said the Fed would keep working until the job market was healthy.

Despite months of solid hiring and declining unemployment, Yellen contends that too many people have been out of work for too long, that too many are stuck in part-time jobs and that pay growth is still anemic.

Challenging that view, though, are some Fed officials who sound more concerned about inflation. They argue that the Fed risks igniting inflation by waiting too long to raise rates.

One of them, Charles Plosser, head of the Fed's Philadelphia bank, dissented at the Fed's last meeting. He felt it was a mistake to keep signaling that rates will stay low for a "considerable time." Another, Richard Fisher of the Dallas Fed, expressed worries in an opinion column about the dangers of "staying too loose, too long."

Many analysts think Yellen will use Friday's speech to explain her continued support for low rates.

"Her position continues to be that the economy is improving but the labor market is not healthy enough to tolerate a hike in interest rates any time soon," said Sung Won Sohn, an economics professor at California State University, Channel Islands.

Most economists doubt the Fed will raise rates before mid-2015. Even when it does, it's expected to act only gradually — to limit inflation but avoid derailing the economy's recovery.

Yet a so-called soft landing often proves elusive.

"The Fed usually gets it right only about half the time," noted David Wyss, a former Fed economist who teaches at Brown University.

Obama weighs broader move on legal immigration

WASHINGTON -- President Barack Obama is considering key changes in the nation's immigration system requested by tech, industry and powerful interest groups, in a move that could blunt Republicans' election-year criticism of the president's go-it-alone approach to immigration.

Administration officials and advocates said the steps would go beyond the expected relief from deportations for some immigrants in the U.S. illegally that Obama signaled he'd adopt after immigration efforts in Congress collapsed. Following a bevy of recent White House meetings, top officials have compiled specific recommendations from business groups and other advocates whose support could undercut GOP claims that Obama is exceeding his authority to help people who have already violated immigration laws.

"The president has not made a decision regarding next steps, but he believes it's important to understand and consider the full range of perspectives on potential solutions," said White House spokesman Shawn Turner.

One of the more popular requests among business and family groups is a change in the way green cards are counted that would essentially free up some 800,000 additional visas the first year, advocates say.

The result would be threefold: It would lessen the visa bottleneck for business seeking global talent; shorten the green card line for those being sponsored by relatives, a wait that can stretch nearly 25 years; and potentially reduce the incentive for illegal immigration by creating more legal avenues for those wanting to come, as well as those already here.

Obama's aides have held more than 20 meetings in recent months with business groups and other interest groups to discuss possibilities, ahead of an announcement about next steps the president is expected to make in September. Coordinating these "listening sessions," as the White House calls them, is its Office of Public Engagement, led by top Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett.

Obama's options without new laws from Congress are limited and would only partially address obstacles business groups say are preventing them from hiring more workers. Even so, administration officials say these groups are urging the White House to help streamline a complex and unpredictable system.

Republicans are working to use immigration and the surge of unaccompanied minors at the border against Democrats in the midterm elections by arguing that Obama and his party are undermining the rule of law.

"Politically we think it flips the switch because it's not just talking about a benefit to those who broke the law," said former Rep. Bruce Morrison, D-Conn., who authored the 1990 immigration law and is now lobbying on behalf of groups representing tech industry professionals, business management and U.S. citizens married to foreigners.

Matt Mackowiak, a Texas-based Republican strategist, said the moves on legal immigration might prompt businesses to praise the president, even if it's not enough to persuade the business community to side with Democrats in the upcoming elections.

"From the White House's perspective, this is an easy way for them to score some points," Mackowiak said. "They'll say: 'We're arguing about substance, Republicans are arguing about process.'"

Obama in June announced that in the face of congressional inaction, he would act on his own to address as much of the nation's immigration mess as he could. Since then, advocates for the roughly 11 million people living in the country illegally have lobbied for deportation relief particularly for the parents of U.S.-born children and the parents of youth who authorized to remain in the country under a program Obama announced in 2012.

But in recent weeks, other groups have stepped up public pressure in favor of presidential action that would change how the legal immigration system operates, too.

Those who support changing the green card count say each year half of the 140,000 employment-based green cards issued go to spouses and children, unnecessarily reducing the numbers available to workers.

Other requests have included removing the requirement that some spouses of U.S. citizens return to their native country for at least three years before they can apply for U.S. residency, as well as extending work permits to the spouses of all temporary H1-B skilled workers.

The potential for broader executive action ignited flames this week from Republicans in Congress already vehemently opposed to legislation that would increase immigration quotas.

U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala., slammed the White House this week for meeting with big business to bring in more workers while "tens of millions of Americans are on welfare, unemployment and public assistance."

Not all industries are pushing for broad action, though. Agriculture leaders, who acknowledge as much as 70 percent of their workforce is "unauthorized" have remained on the sidelines — a reminder of the limits of any Obama's executive authority.

Kristi Boswell, director of congressional relations for the American Farm Bureau, said her organization has met this summer with White House to encourage administrative changes that would reduce immigration raids targeting farms and processing plants and cut the red tape on hiring guest workers.

"Absolutely, ag workers have an ability to benefit at least temporarily from executive action," she said but added that reforming guest worker provisions and other aspects of the immigration system couldn't be done by the president alone.

For that, she said, Congress will still have to act.

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Wides-Munoz reported from Miami.

Follow Laura Wides-Munoz on Twitter at http://bit.ly/1xBD8qy and Josh Lederman at http://bit.ly/1nOsrgu

Grain lower, livestock lower

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

Wheat for Dec delivery fell 8.5 cents to $5.50 a bushel; Dec corn was 4.75 cents lower at 3.675 a bushel; Dec oats were off .25 cent at $3.395 a bushel; while Nov soybeans fell 14.75 cents to $10.38 a bushel.

Beef and pork were lower on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

Oct live cattle fell 1.82 cents to $1.4540 a pound; Oct feeder cattle was 3 cents lower at $2.1037 a pound; while Oct lean hogs declined 2.32 cents to $.9250 a pound.

Fact sheet: Infiniti QX60

2014 Infiniti QX60 Hybrid AWD

BASE PRICE: $45,100 with FWD; $46,500 with AWD.

PRICE AS TESTED: $60,780.

TYPE: Front-engine, all-wheel drive, seven-passenger, large, luxury, gasoline-electric hybrid, sport utility vehicle.

ENGINE: 2.5-liter, double overhead cam, supercharged, inline four cylinder mated to a 15-kilowatt electric motor and lithium ion battery pack.

MILEAGE: 25 mpg (city), 28 mpg (highway).

TOP SPEED: NA.

LENGTH: 196.4 inches.

WHEELBASE: 114.2 inches.

CURB WEIGHT: 4,462 pounds.

BUILT AT: Smyrna, Tenn.

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Sheheen: Haley's welfare-to-work claims misleading

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Gov. Nikki Haley's Democratic opponent said Wednesday her administration hasn't moved more than 20,000 people from welfare to work as claimed, since many of those people still earn so little, they continue to receive government assistance.

State Sen. Vincent Sheheen accused Haley of being dishonest by implying that more than 20,000 people secured a job that took them off assistance rolls.

"It's wrong, dishonest and deceitful," said Sheheen, D-Camden. "You've got jobs where people are working two or three hours a week, and that's being claimed by Nikki Haley as being a job and moving people off benefits into work, and clearly that's not so."

Beyond including meager jobs that don't pay a living wage, he said, the numbers also include people who temporarily get off welfare but then lose a job and re-enroll. Department of Social Services officials confirmed his statement. But according to the agency, 93 percent of people who exit welfare with jobs stay off assistance for at least three months; 78 percent stay off for at least two years.

DSS officials say even a part-time job results in less assistance.

"Gov. Haley has always believed that the best way to take care of our South Carolina families is to provide more and better opportunities for them to find work in our state — and that is exactly what the welfare to work program has done," said Haley spokesman Doug Mayer. "The governor knows that working is one of the keys to the American Dream." He repeated that the program has moved "over 20,000 South Carolinians from welfare to work."

Earlier this month, the administration gave updated figures of nearly 25,000 since February 2011.

Most of those counted refer to families who stopped qualifying for welfare payments after getting a job. To qualify in South Carolina, parents must earn less than half the federal poverty level. That means a mom with two children stops receiving welfare after getting work that pays the equivalent of a $9,900 yearly salary. Many of those families still qualify for food assistance, what's commonly called food stamps, since the income threshold for that is higher, though the benefit amount declines.

Unlike welfare, childless adults can receive food assistance. Roughly 6,000 of those counted in the welfare-to-work figures are people receiving only food assistance, who get any job, no matter how few hours, as long as it pays minimum wage, according to DSS. Sheheen referred to those as "fake jobs."

DSS officials point to the program's job training services. A person's job, plus training, must equal 30 hours a week. For example, someone who gets a part-time job of 10 hours weekly must participate in 20 hours of other preparation, whether that's volunteering to earn experience, getting help earning a GED or writing a resume, or taking classes on interview skills, said Karama Bailey, DSS's acting state deputy director for economic services.

"We get a lot of people who come with no experience and lots of barriers," she said. Training provided in the program will eventually lead to jobs that enable them to support their families, she said.

Sheheen said fewer people have moved from welfare to full-time jobs since the agency began paying outside contractors millions of dollars to run the program. He pointed to a chart showing that 9,500 people obtained full-time work in 2012-13, compared to 13,984 in 2010-11.

The agency said that's explained by an improved economy that resulted in fewer people seeking assistance, and those on the rolls having less work experience.

In July, DSS provided a total of $2.7 million in monetary assistance to 12,615 families, impacting 21,717 children. That compares to 20,700 families, including 35,850 children, helped in January 2011, who were provided a total of $4.6 million, according to data on the agency's website.

Dubai's Nakheel to pay $2.1 billion in debt early

DUBAI, United Arab Emirates -- Dubai's developer Nakheel behind the famed man-made palm-shaped islands said Wednesday it is repaying 7.9 billion dirhams, or roughly $2.15 billion this month — nearly four years before the last installment is due.

The indebted state developer was scheduled to repay the credit over three installments between September 2015 and March 2018. Nakheel said in a statement that it made early repayments of 2.35 billion dirhams ($640 million) in February. The remaining 5.54 billion dirhams ($1.51 billion) is being paid and cleared this month, it said.

Nakheel will pay the $1.51 billion to 31 banks, of which almost $940 million will go to UAE banks and $570 million to overseas banks. The company said it will also pay interest of around $35 million covering the six months from end of February to end of August.

The company's credit-fueled building spree was at the heart of Dubai's financial crisis in 2009 following a property market crash the year before. The state developer was part of Dubai World, but separated during financial restructuring.

It received a multi-billion dollar bailout from the Dubai government, which itself was lent billions of dollars from the Abu Dhabi-based federal government. Nakheel was almost faced with default and had to suspend its projects on its large man-made islands.

Nakheel said earlier this year that strong real estate growth and improved economic conditions in Dubai boosted its finances and allowed it to make early debt repayments.

It has also promised to repay trade creditors $1.23 billion in Islamic bonds, known as sukuk, that mature in 2016.

NC justices uphold order that led to rate rise

By GARY D. ROBERTSON The Associated Press

RALEIGH, N.C. -- North Carolina electric power regulators were justified in their decision that previously allowed a Duke Energy subsidiary to raise the bills of average residential customers of the former Progress Energy by $88 per year, the state Supreme Court ruled Wednesday.

With no dissenting opinions, the justices agreed there was enough evidence to demonstrate the state Utilities Commission's conclusion last year that a specific profit margin for Duke Energy Progress was defensible.

Duke Energy Progress, with 1.3 million customers in much of eastern North Carolina and in Asheville, carried out the two-year rate increase in June 2013 and June 2014, with rates growing on average by 5.5 percent, and by 7.5 percent for homes. The average home saw an increase from $104.06 per month to $111.39, according to Duke Energy.

Attorney General Roy Cooper had appealed the commission's decision, saying the panel failed to consider in detail the economic impact on customers when authorizing a return on equity of 10.2 percent.

But the court said the commission's order pointed out the recently high unemployment rate and number of foreclosures, as well as nearly 60 witnesses who said the associated rate increase was not affordable to many customers. The commission also noted Duke Energy Progress would distribute $20 million to help poor customers and for job training, the opinion said.

"We hold that the commission made sufficient findings regarding the impact of changing economic conditions upon customers and that these findings are supported by competent, material, and substantial evidence in view of the entire record," Associate Justice Barbara Jackson wrote.

Duke Energy, the Charlotte-based corporate parent of Duke Energy Progress, has defended the rate increase as it recovers some of the $11 billion it's invested since its last general rate increase — separate from fuel cost changes — in 1987.

Duke Energy spokesman Jeff Brooks praised the ruling, saying the commission's review of the settlement reached with Duke Energy Progress "properly balanced customer interests and fulfilled the requirements of (state) law."

Cooper said in a release the ruling was disappointing but it "won't stop us from fighting for utility rates that are fair to consumers." Two other rate cases are before the Supreme Court involving Duke Energy Carolinas, another Duke Energy subsidiary serving customers in Durham and through western North Carolina.

Both cases are expected before the justices next month.

One involves a 4.5 percent average increase approved last year for two years, growing to a 5.1 percent increase thereafter. The second involves a 7.2 percent rate increase originally approved in 2012 by the commission. Following a Cooper appeal, the Supreme Court told the commission to reconsider the 7.2 percent increase in light of its impact on customers. The commission, however, came to the same conclusion. The increases have already been implemented on Duke Energy Carolinas customers.

"The Supreme Court has agreed with us before on this issue and we hope it will again," Cooper said.

Governor: Grocery chain fight at 'critical point'

BOSTON -- Gov. Deval Patrick said Wednesday he was hopeful that a family fight over the Market Basket grocery store chain that has sparked an employee walkout and a customer boycott can be resolved soon.

Patrick told reporters he was hoping to speak with warring cousins Arthur T. Demoulas, who was ousted as CEO in June, and Arthur S. Demoulas as negotiations reached a "critical point," with the immediate future of the company and its employees possibly hanging in the balance.

"Nobody wants to have the business remain on its knees this way. Nobody wants to have the people who work for Market Basket out of work especially the rank and file folks who are the folks most in jeopardy," the governor said after appearing at an unrelated event in Greenfield.

Patrick said his understanding was that the company has continued to pay people for the time they've worked.

"(But) if they don't have customers to serve or supplies to sell that becomes a bigger and bigger problem," he said.

The 71-store New England chain has lost tens of millions of dollars since warehouse workers walked off their jobs last month to protest the firing of Arthur T. Demoulas. He has offered to buy out his cousin and other family members, but the two sides have yet to reach an agreement.

Patrick and New Hampshire Gov. Maggie Hassan met with the cousins and other company officials for several hours last weekend.

Hassan remains in close contact with Patrick but doesn't have any meetings planned with the Demoulas cousins, her spokesman William Hinkle said.

Patrick said there were "a lot of complicated issues and a lot of history." But, he said, "There is still a sense that a resolution is getting closer."

Warren Buffett's firm to pay $896,000 penalty

OMAHA, Neb. -- Warren Buffett's company has agreed to an $896,000 penalty for failing to tell regulators about a December 2013 investment in wallboard maker USG Corp. beforehand.

The Federal Trade Commission said Wednesday that Berkshire Hathaway Inc. should have notified the Justice Department before it converted $325 million of senior USG notes it held into 21.4 million shares of the company.

Because Berkshire was already a significant USG shareholder, antitrust laws required it to notify regulators because of the size of the deal. At the end of June, Berkshire held just over 39 million USG shares.

Berkshire did correct its initial filing after the USG investment and clarify that it should have notified officials. But regulators said Berkshire made a similar mistake six months earlier when it acquired securities in Symetra Financial Corp.

"Although we may not seek penalties for every inadvertent error, we will enforce the rules when the same party makes additional mistakes after promises of improved oversight," said Deborah Feinstein, Director of the FTC's Bureau of Competition. "Companies and individual investors alike should ensure that they have an effective program in place to monitor compliance."

Buffett issued a statement Wednesday afternoon and described the matter as a simple mistake. He said Berkshire had owned the convertible USG notes since 2008 and was essentially forced to convert them into stock when USG redeemed them in 2013.

"This event triggered a filing requirement for Berkshire and we were late in realizing that fact," Buffett said.

Besides the two examples of filing delays regulators cited, Berkshire filed a document with the Securities and Exchange Commission last week that it said should have been filed in 2009. That document disclosed Berkshire's 72.6 million preferred shares of Dow Chemical stock.

KBW analyst Meyer Shields said he believes Buffett's explanation that the USG filing was an honest mistake, but the pattern of several filing errors might suggest that Berkshire's compliance systems haven't kept up with regulations.

Berkshire is a large conglomerate that owns more than 80 subsidiaries in a variety of industries, including insurance, utilities, railroads, retail and manufacturing.

Berkshire employs more than 330,000 across all its companies, which include Geico insurance and BNSF railroad, but only 25 people work at its headquarters in Omaha, Nebraska. The tiny headquarters staff takes care of Berkshire's regulatory filings and files the company's 23,000-page federal income tax return.

Besides owning companies outright, Berkshire also holds sizeable investments in firms such as USG, Coca-Cola Co., Wells Fargo Co. and IBM.

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Online:

Berkshire Hathaway Inc.: http://bit.ly/1dyyUUU

Follow Josh Funk online at http://bit.ly/1iu3Fjj

L Brands beats Street 2Q forecasts

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- L Brands Inc. (LB) on Wednesday reported fiscal second-quarter profit of $188.4 million.

The Columbus, Ohio-based company said it had profit of 63 cents per share.

The results topped Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of 62 cents per share.

The owner of Victoria's Secret, Bath & Body Works and other chain stores posted revenue of $2.68 billion in the period, which also beat Street forecasts. Analysts expected $2.66 billion, according to Zacks.

L Brands shares have climbed nearly 2 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has climbed 7.5 percent. At the close of trading on Wednesday, shares were trading at $62.98, a rise of nearly 4 percent in the last 12 months.

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This story was generated automatically by Automated Insights (http://bit.ly/1jX8LIs) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Full LB report: http://bit.ly/1uYwCv1

Panel denies electric rate cut for smelting plant

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri utility regulators denied a request Wednesday from the state's largest electricity consumer to cut its electric rates by about 25 percent and pass the difference along to other customers of Ameren Missouri.

In an order accompanying its 5-0 vote, the Public Service Commission said it was unconvinced by Noranda Aluminum Inc.'s assertion that it faced a "liquidity crisis" or that the rate cut was crucial to the future of its large smelting plant in southeast Missouri.

Noranda pays Ameren about $160 million a year in base electric rates to power the New Madrid smelting plant, which has nearly 900 employees. The company said the reduction it requested in February would amount to about $48 million.

Noranda estimated its request would increase rates for Ameren Missouri's 1.2 million other customers by 1.8 percent or less, although Ameren put the figure at more than 2 percent.

The Public Service Commission took note of Noranda's contention that the smelter is crucial to Missouri's economy, saying it "certainly does not want the smelter to close."

But it said the company had failed to prove that the state and its citizens would be hurt more by the plant's closing than by reducing its electricity costs.

"While we are disappointed with the PSC's decision to deny Noranda rate relief at this point, we remain committed to transforming our cost structure and to reducing the cost of New Madrid's electricity," Noranda president and CEO Layle Smith said in a statement. "We will thoughtfully evaluate our alternatives for accomplishing our objectives and provide additional information at an appropriate time."

UPS says 51 retail stores breached by malware

Some customers of The UPS Store may have had their credit and debit card information exposed by a computer virus found on systems at 51 stores in 24 states.

A spokeswoman for UPS says the information includes names, card numbers and postal and email addresses from about 100,000 transactions between Jan. 20 and Aug. 11.

United Parcel Service Inc. said Wednesday that it was among U.S. retailers who got a Department of Homeland Security bulletin about the malware on July 31. The malware is not identified by current anti-virus software.

The company is not aware of any fraud related to the attack, spokeswoman Chelsea Lee said.

Atlanta-based UPS said it hired a security firm that found the virus in systems at about 1 percent of the company's 4,470 franchised locations. At many stores, the intrusion did not begin until March or April.

Lee said that the problem was fixed by Aug. 11 and the company took additional steps to protect systems at other stores. She said the affected stores were not linked electronically, and UPS is still investigating how they were compromised.

UPS said it is providing identity protection and credit monitoring help to affected customers.

The affected stores were in Arizona, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Illinois, Louisiana, Maryland, Nebraska, Nevada, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and Washington.

From the company's description, the breach appeared far smaller than one that hit Target Corp. during the holiday-shopping season, when hackers stole credit and debit card information involving millions of customers. Fallout from the incident is still hurting profits. Target, which said Wednesday that second-quarter profit fell 62 percent, has spent $235 million related to the breach, partly offset by $90 million in insurance payments.

The UPS breach won't have a material financial impact on the company, Lee said.

Last week, Supervalu said that hackers might have stolen names, account numbers, expiration dates and other information from card holders who shopped at up to 200 of its grocery and liquor stores. Restaurant operator P.F. Chang's, Goodwill thrift stores and other retailers have been hit by data breaches.

A list of the 51 locations of The UPS Store where malware was discovered is at http://bit.ly/1pfRL0v

Despite Fed, a late push sends US stocks higher

NEW YORK -- A late round of buying is leaving stock indexes mostly higher.

Bond prices fell, sending yields higher, on word that Federal Reserve policymakers were leaning toward raising interest rates.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 59 points, or 0.4 percent, to close at 16,979 Wednesday.

The Standard & Poor's 500 rose four points, or 0.3 percent, to 1,986. The Nasdaq was flat at 4,526.

The S&P 500 is just one point below its record high close from July 24.

J.M. Smucker fell 1 percent after the food company cut its full-year sales outlook.

Bond prices fell after the Federal Reserve released minutes from its latest policy meeting which revealed that many policymakers were pushing to raise interest rates.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.43 percent.

Kentucky business unspooled as feds closed in

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Louis Joseph Brothers used sales of military-grade electronics to Hong Kong to boost the revenue for his business, then resigned from the company he founded when federal investigators started questioning the sales and the company fell apart.

Brothers walked away from Valley Forge Composite Technologies on Feb. 13, 2013, a week after the company acknowledged the federal probe into the possible sale of military-grade semiconductors to China. The two events plunged Valley Forge's stock into a tailspin and later that year, bankruptcy.

Now Brothers and his wife, Rosemary Brothers, are free on $500,000 bond each after being arrested Friday. The Union, Kentucky couple is charged with violating International Traffic in Arms Regulations by selling $37 million worth of semiconductors to Hong Kong since 2009. As part of the investigation, federal prosecutors seized bank accounts belonging to the company in 2013 and valued at $1.5 million.

The couple has pleaded not guilty to the charges in U.S. District Court in Covington, Kentucky. They've also denied similar allegations made in a class-action lawsuit in California brought by stockholders. Attorneys for the couple in both cases did not return messages from The Associated Press.

Documents related to the criminal case, including the indictment and filings detailing the seizure of the bank accounts, remained under seal Wednesday morning.

However, civil court records, Securities and Exchange Commission filings and the company's bankruptcy lay out the story of a struggling technology firm that dealt in parts to China to boost profits and allow the majority shareholder to stay in charge.

From its founding in 1996, Valley Forge Composite made momentum wheels — a flywheel used in spacecraft to change their attitude without having to expend fuel.

Valley Forge saw declining revenues from $662,510 in 2004 to $132,000 in 2008, and in two of those years it reported zero revenues. During that time, Valley Forge sought out new ventures, including machinery that could be used to detect weapons in airports and a photonuclear detection system aimed at finding explosives and bio-chemical weapons on cargo ships.

It was during this time, according to stockholders in the civil suit against Brothers and the company, that Brothers faced a choice — raise money through stock sales or find a new revenue stream. Federal prosecutors and the plaintiffs alleged Brothers started selling to China in order to protect its majority share in the company — about 31.25 percent of the stock.

According to SEC filings and court documents, the company's revenues shot up to $3.2 million in 2009 — the year the alleged illegal sales started — $18.6 million in 2010 and $14.9 million in 2011. But, the filings do not mention sales to China. The company publicly explained the jump in revenues by saying the funds came from sales of aerospace products and other mechanical devices, including two orders that produced a gross profit of $2 million.

"The company periodically receives a high profit margin order that exceeds the normal profit percentage of approximately 15 percent," company officials wrote in a release to investors.

The new revenue allowed Brothers to hang on to his majority stockholder position. Brothers told the SEC in a filing on April 11, 2011 that the company took in $18.6 million from sales of "various products" in 2010 to meet capital requirements.

"We anticipate the income from sales of such products will be sufficient to finance our ongoing capital requirements in 2011," the company told the SEC.

An officer with the company told Valley Forge's general counsel in May 2012 about the sales of radiation hardened microelectronic circuits to China and that the sales may be illegal, according to bankruptcy documents.

Eight months later, the U.S. Attorney's Office in Covington seized $1.5 million in the company's bank accounts while a money laundering investigation took place. Two weeks later, the company told stockholders about the investigation. The company did not deny sales to Hong Kong, but said the transactions weren't illegal.

"The company has reason to believe that the vast majority of these exports involved commercial semiconductors that were clearly not subject to control," it stated in the filing.

Brothers, who gave $2,500 to U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell's re-election campaign as well as donations to other Republican candidates, resigned several executive positions with Valley Forge on Feb. 13, 2013.

"Since the announcement Valley Forge's stock price never recovered and now trades at approximately 3 cents per share," said Vincent Slavens, a San Diego, California-based attorney representing the plaintiffs in the class-action case.

Valley Forge filed for bankruptcy in October, claiming assets between $500,000 and $1 million and liabilities between $1 million and $10 million.

Follow Associated Press reporter Brett Barrouquere on Twitter: http://bit.ly/1giQWPj

Brine firm sues over biblical fracking billboard

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- An Ohio man who uses a biblical reference and a statement against "poisoned waters" on billboards opposing wells for disposal of gas-drilling wastewater is fighting a legal threat from the Texas well owner on free-speech grounds.

Austin, Texas-based Buckeye Brine alleges in a July lawsuit that the billboards paid for by Michael Boals, of Coshocton in eastern Ohio, contain false and defamatory attacks against its two wells, which dispose of contaminated wastewater from oil and gas drilling.

The complaint by the company and Rodney Adams, who owns the land and operates the well site, contends the wells are safe, legal and meet all state safety standards. The parties object to statements on two billboards along U.S. Route 36, including one that "DEATH may come."

"The accusation that the wells will cause 'DEATH' is a baseless and malicious attempt to damage the reputations of the plaintiffs," according to the complaint. "The billboards are also defamatory because they state or imply that Mr. Adams and Buckeye Brine are causing 'poisoned waters' to enter the drinking water supply."

Shale oil and gas drilling employing hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, produces millions of gallons of chemical-laced wastewater. The liquid, called brine, is a mix of chemicals, saltwater, naturally occurring radioactive material and mud.

It's considered unsafe for ground water and aquifers, so Ohio regulations require waste liquid to be contained and injected deep underground. Ohio has recorded no aquifer contamination, but as the state grapples with some 16 million gallons of the wastewater a year, it's seen earthquakes linked to injection wells and a Youngstown-area businessman indicted in a federal dumping case.

Boals, a 55-year-old timber harvester, refuses to pull his billboards, which he said cost him more than $1,000.

He said the complaint misrepresents his statements, one of which is that injection wells "pump POISONED WATERS under the feet of America's Citizens." The second sign quotes prophecy from Revelation — on men dying from waters "made bitter."

"I think a lot of people hear the word 'injection well' and they don't realize they inject wastewater into the ground," he said. "I said the poisoned waters travel under the feet of all the people in the area. That's a true statement. 'Bitter' speaks about something not desirable, not something you'd ever want to drink."

After a cease-and-desist letter failed to get Boals to pull the signs, the legal fight escalated. Buckeye Brine directed its appeal for relief to the sign owner, and Boals enlisted the legal help of Fair Shake Environmental Legal Services.

Megan Lovett, an attorney at the Pittsburgh-based nonprofit, said Boals' signs represent protected speech, especially in a rural, hilly region where billboards are one of the more reliable forms of mass communication.

"You can't defame someone with an opinion in Ohio," she said. "You can't control an idea. The way we control ideas is in the marketplace of ideas, not in a court."

Lovett also argues that oil and gas drilling, particularly fracking, can rightly be considered to "destroy" and "poison" water, as the billboards contend.

Judge adjusts Detroit bankruptcy trial schedule

DETROIT -- The Detroit bankruptcy trial will start Sept. 2 after the judge decided to move some testimony to later in the case.

Federal Judge Steven Rhodes must decide whether Detroit's plan to get out of bankruptcy is fair and feasible.

Rhodes had planned to first hear testimony on Aug. 29 from some creditors who don't have lawyers but changed the schedule Wednesday.

It means the trial will start with opening statements from the city and creditors on Sept. 2 as planned. Rhodes has set aside about 30 more days of trial if necessary.

EEOC files lawsuit against Food Lion over firing

WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has filed a discrimination lawsuit against supermarket chain Food Lion, saying it fired a Jehovah's Witness who requested certain days off for his religion.

The complaint was filed Wednesday in U.S. District Court. A company spokeswoman said she hadn't seen the lawsuit.

According to the complaint, Victaurius L. Bailey was hired at a Food Lion in Winston-Salem in June 2011. Bailey is a minister and an elder, and as such needed Sundays and Thursdays off.

Bailey's manager accommodated him. But when he was transferred to a store in Kernersville, the manager there said he wasn't going to be able to give him Sundays off. The complaint said Bailey was then fired.

The EEOC is seeking back pay, and compensatory and punitive damages.

Short-term home rentals get Biloxi's attention

BILOXI, Miss. -- Biloxi officials say 160 property owners are advertising on the Internet to rent their homes and condos for a few days to a few weeks.

Jerry Creel, community development director, tells The Sun Herald (http://bit.ly/1BBc79E) that most aren't licensed or aren't paying taxes to the city or state.

Biloxi's ordnance allows short-term rentals only in areas zoned for business, multi-family, downtown and waterfront. The property must have adequate parking, and Creel said, "It has to protect the neighborhood property values."

Creel said only one home is licensed for short-term rentals of fewer than 30 days in Biloxi. He said another application was rejected because it was in a residential neighborhood.

Harrison County has extended-stay hotels, condos, villas and cottages that comply with laws and pay the 12 percent lodging tax required whether they rent one room or 1,000, said Linda Hornsby, director of the Mississippi Hotel & Lodging Association.

A portion of that tax goes to repay the bond on the expansion of the Coast Convention Center. The tax has been enough to pay only the interest on the bond, she said, and the 30-year bond is now 40 years.

Creel said his office responds to complaints from neighbors who object to people moving in and out of their neighborhoods every few days. Officials are working on seven complaints now and he said the cases are taken to community court and face penalties of up to $1,000 a day.

City attorney Michael Collins said renting a home also makes property owners ineligible for the state's homestead tax exemption.

Argentina seeks to end default through bond change

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina -- Argentina's government plans to change the way it pays holders of the country's debt as a way to end the default triggered by a legal battle with U.S. investors.

President Cristina Fernandez says she will send a bill to Congress that would set up a system to pay bondholders in Argentina instead of channeling them through the Bank of New York.

The change is intended as a way around a U.S. court order that blocked Argentina from making $539 million in interest payments on July 30, triggering the country's second default in 13 years. It would affect creditors who accepted lower-value bonds following the country's 2001 default and could further complicate the battle with holdout creditors.

Fernandez proposed the change late Tuesday and it's expected to pass in Congress.

EDL files lawsuit against contract workers

BEIRUT: Electricite du Liban announced Wednesday that it would file a lawsuit against three leaders of the protesting contract workers over blocking its facilities’ entrances and defaming its executives.

Lebanon’s public electricity company said in a statement that it would file suit against “L. M., B.B. and A. S (who are previous contract workers in the institutions) ... over closing the company’s doors, banning customers from entering, and defaming the institution’s board of directors.”

The three contract workers sued by EDL are Lebnan Makhoul, the head of the workers’ union, and Bilal Bajou and Ahmad Shoeib, both workers. Bajou and Shoeib have appeared, along with Makhoul, on different occasions at news conferences and have accused EDL Chairman Kamal Hayek of corruption and fraud.

“In this cause, our ceiling is death,” Makhoul told The Daily Star in response to EDL’s decision. “And when you put death as your ceiling, such events are reduced to being mere details.”

Shoeib echoed Makhoul, saying that he would consider the lawsuit a “medal of honor” for defending “the poor workers against the violation of their rights.”

Electricite du Liban’s administration had sent a letter to the State Prosecution office Tuesday, asking for security forces to intervene to end the contract workers’ protests in the company’s buildings.

The contract workers have been carrying out protests over the past week at all EDL offices, preventing employees from entering the buildings. They are demanding full-time employment at EDL for each of the nearly 2,000 workers in line with a law passed by Parliament in April, but EDL has only agreed to hire 897.

Judge finds firm discriminated against women

SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- A federal judge has found that a Missouri-based trucking company had a pattern of discrimination against its female drivers.

The judge ruled Monday that Springfield-based New Prime Inc. violated federal law by requiring female drivers to be trained only by other female drivers.

The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission sued the New Prime over the practice in 2011, alleging the policy limited women's access to jobs or delayed their hiring.

Prime sought to have the case dismissed. It suspended the women-train-women policy in March 2013.

The Kansas City Star reports (http://bit.ly/1uW2W1B ) Prime started the women training policy in 2003 after an earlier EEOC lawsuit focused on sexual harassment of a female driver trainee.

The commission says damages and remedies for the women involved in the case will be determined later.

Beirut airport urges early passenger check-in

Beirut airport urges early passenger check-in

Airport officials now urge passengers to arrive three hours before flights from Rafik Hariri International Airport.

Lowe's 2Q profit rises as weather improves

MOORESVILLE, N.C. -- Lowe's second-quarter net income increased 10 percent, bolstered by improving weather.

The home improvement company's performance beat analysts' expectations, but the Mooresville, North Carolina, company lowered its full-year revenue outlook slightly, citing its year-to-date sales and prior assumptions for the second half.

Shares fell in premarket trading on Wednesday.

Spring is the most important season for home-improvement retailers, as homeowners and others work on their yards and gardens. While the season started off a bit cold and rainy, weather improved and shoppers headed out to stores to pick up supplies.

For the three months ended Aug. 1, Lowe's Cos. earned $1.04 billion, or $1.04 per share. A year earlier it earned $941 million, or 88 cents per share.

Analysts, on average, expected earnings of $1.02 per share, according to a FactSet survey.

Revenue rose 6 percent to $16.6 billion from $15.71 billion, topping Wall Street's $16.57 billion forecast.

Sales at stores open at least a year, a key indicator of a retailer's health, climbed 4.4 percent. This figure excludes results from stores recently opened or closed.

Chairman, President and CEO Robert Niblock said in a statement that the improving weather helped Lowe's recover most of the outdoor product sales it missed in the first quarter, when weather was less favorable.

"We believe home improvement spending will continue to progress in tandem with strengthening job and income growth," Niblock said.

On Tuesday larger rival Home Depot Inc.'s second-quarter results also topped Wall street's view due in large part to a rebound in the spring selling season.

Looking ahead, Lowe's now anticipates full-year revenue rising about 4.5 percent. Its prior outlook was for an approximately 5 percent increase. Based on fiscal 2013's revenue of $53.42 billion, the new guidance implies revenue of $55.8 billion. Lowe's reaffirmed its forecast for full-year earnings of about $2.63 per share.

Analysts are calling for fiscal 2014 earnings of $2.62 per share on revenue of $55.79 billion.

The company's stock declined $2.17, or 4.2 percent, to $49.35 before the market open.

Glencore swings to profit, announces buyback

GENEVA -- Commodities and mining group Glencore PLC says it will buy back up to $1 billion of its own shares as profit for the first half of the year rose 8 percent.

The Swiss-based company, which created an industry giant through the merger between Glencore and Xstrata, says the repurchasing of shares will run through the end of March.

In its financial statement released Wednesday, the company says its adjusted net profit was $2.01 billion in the first six months of the year, up from a restated $1.86 billion in the comparable period of 2013.

The global commodity trader and metals producer run by billionaire Ivan Glasenberg reports the profit came from higher production volumes and improved market conditions in grains, copper, zinc and coal.

Eaton closing Charlotte plant, 84 lose jobs

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A company that makes clutch-assemblies in Charlotte plans to close the plant, eliminating 84 jobs.

The Charlotte Observer reported (http://bit.ly/1totgNV) that Eaton plans to move the work done in Charlotte to plants in Indiana and Mexico.

A notice filed with North Carolina officials said the first layoffs will occur by Oct. 15. The plant is expected to close by the end of next year.

Company spokesman Jim Michels says the closing of the clutch-assembly plant will not affect Eaton's electrical facility in Charlotte that employees 79 people.

Eaton is based in Dublin, Ireland, and makes products used by the aerospace, automotive and other industries. The clutches made at the Charlotte plant are used in commercial vehicles, from tow trucks to school buses to 18-wheelers. Eaton opened the facility in 2007.

Wood-recycling plant set for southwestern Indiana

BUCKSKIN, Ind. -- A recycling company that turns wood and other wastes into animal bedding, compost and mulch is moving ahead with plans to build a plant in southwestern Indiana.

The Gibson County Council has approved a five-year tax abatement incentive for Borden, Indiana-based Koetter-Smith Co.

The Princeton Daily Clarion reports (http://bit.ly/1pbilrQ ) the company will spend nearly $3 million to build a recycling plant on former Peabody Coal property near the community of Buckskin some 15 miles north of Evansville.

Koetter-Smith plans to hire five to eight people for that operation, where workers will recycle wood and other organic waste into mulch, compost and bedding for the horse and poultry industries.

Gibson County officials say the project will be the county's first industrial development in its Interstate 69 extension corridor.

Information from: Princeton Daily Clarion, http://bit.ly/1w8n1TS

Abu Faour: Health Ministry to cover implants

Abu Faour: Health Ministry to cover implants

Health minister says ministry to cover most of the cost for medical implants, warning against additional charges to...

Medicaid insurers seek more from state

BOSTON -- Companies that insure Medicaid patients in Massachusetts are pressing for an increase in the payments they receive from the state for serving low-income residents.

The health insurers say $140 million in losses since the start of the year are the result of an expensive new hepatitis C drug and a surge of nearly 190,000 new members assigned to the companies by MassHealth, the state Medicaid program.

Insurers say the state did not budget enough money to cover added costs.

State health officials tell The Boston Globe (http://bit.ly/1oYZRpp ) that their data analysis does not corroborate all of the insurers' claims, but they are expected this week to propose higher reimbursement rates to the insurers for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1 that will reflect updated data on medical and drug costs.

81 schools used financial literacy program

LINCOLN, Neb. -- State Treasurer Don Stenberg says 81 Nebraska high schools took advantage of a new, state-sponsored financial literacy program in the last school year.

Stenberg said Tuesday that the Nebraska NEST Financial Scholars program reached 2,214 students. Of that total, 977 completed all nine modules to become certified. The online financial literacy program was developed by EverFi, an educational technology company.

The program teaches students about personal financial matters, such as credit scores, how to fill out a checkbook and how to save for college.

Stenberg says he's looking to grow the program to include dozens more high school and thousands of additional students next year. Stenberg says he's encouraging more schools to participate.

Future MPs: Priority for president over elections

BEIRUT: Future Bloc MPs called Wednesday for giving priority to electing a new president over holding the parliamentary elections, arguing that the bloc supported extending Parliament's term only to facilitate the presidential election and avert a total vacuum.

MP Samir Jisr said the Cabinet decree calling on the electorate to vote in parliamentary elections scheduled for November was “a right step.”

“The Future Movement is in favor of holding elections, on condition that the presidential poll comes first,” Jisr said in an interview with Al-Fajr Radio.

“(Future) leader Saad Hariri’s backing of the extension of Parliament’s mandate is not absolute, it is only meant to facilitate the election of a new president of the republic,” Jisr added.

His colleague, MP Jean Ogassapian, warned against setting a precedent of having constitutional institutions function under prolonged presidential vacuum.

Speaking in an interview with Radio Voice of Lebanon, Ogassapian dismissed the feasibility of holding general elections in the absence of a president.

“How can we appoint a new prime minister and hold consultations without a president,” he asked, arguing that the country would then suffer a vacuum in all its constitutional bodies.

“It is impossible to install constitutional institutions under presidential vacuum. Priority should be for electing a president, to be followed by general elections,” Ogassapian said.

“If we don’t elect a president, the only available solution will be extending the parliament’s mandate for a short while until a president is elected,” he added.

On his part, MP Amin Wehbi, said the Future Movement's insistence on electing a president first “reflects the party’s keenness to preserve the Christian top post.”

“We are attached to this post, which is in the national interest of all Lebanese. The Christian role is a guarantee for freedoms and diversity in the country, not to mention that the vacuum at the top post causes imbalance and malfunction in public institutions,” Wehbi told Radio Orient.

The Cabinet signed a decree Tuesday calling on the electorate to vote in general elections set for Nov. 16. But the move, which came hours after the expiration of the legal deadline to publish the decree, does not necessarily mean that election will be held on time.

Portland woman convicted of embezzling $330,000

PORTLAND, Maine -- A Portland woman awaits sentencing after being convicted of embezzling more than $330,000 from a Chinese company that planned to invest in a Baileyville paper mill.

Jody Flynn was convicted by a Cumberland County jury last week.

Prosecutors say the 61-year-old Flynn formed Greentree Renewable Energy Inc. to facilitate the mill's sale.

Authorities say she took a $500,000 investment and spent most of the money in 2009 and 2010 on her daughter's college tuition, a car, and jewelry.

The mill's owner later decided not to sell, and the Chinese company asked that most of the investment be returned.

Flynn's attorney told the Portland Press Herald the complicated case should have been decided in civil court and there was no criminal activity.

Flynn is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 29.

Indiana updates job search app for iPhone

INDIANAPOLIS -- State technology officials are hoping that their updated smartphone app will make it easier for people seeking work with the state.

The Indiana Office of Technology announced Tuesday it was releasing a new version of the app for iPhones and iPads that would make it easier to search state job postings.

The update will also allow people to set up alerts if state jobs become available.

The state's iPhone app also allows people to search government information, find state parks and do many other things linked to the state website.

Officials said an Android app is in development.

Global cruise lines set sail for China

HONG KONG -- Royal Caribbean's newest ship has attractions not usually seen on cruise liners, including bumper cars, a skydiving simulator and a glass observation capsule on a mechanical arm that lifts its passengers high into the air.

What's also a surprise is the vessel's intended home port: Shanghai.

After floating out of a German shipyard last week, the $935 million Quantum of the Seas will spend the winter running between New York and the Caribbean before moving to its new base next summer in mainland China's financial center.

It's a gutsy move for the world's second biggest cruise company. Cruise operators have traditionally sent older vessels to developing countries while saving their most advanced ships for U.S. and European customers. But surging growth in China means it's a market operators can no longer ignore.

Carnival Corp., the No. 1 cruise company, will become the first global cruise operator to have four ships based in China when it deploys its Costa Serena to Shanghai in April.

The race for China underscores the growing strength of the leisure and travel industries in the world's No. 2 economy as authorities try to spur domestic spending rather than trade and investment as an engine of growth.

Executives are confident about China's prospects even as its economy struggles with a prolonged slowdown from double digit rates of expansion, saying that growth is still strong when compared with developed markets.

Miami-based Carnival expects to carry 500,000 Chinese cruise passengers in 2015, up from 350,000 this year.

"We know that's just a drop in the bucket to what lies ahead in terms of the market in China, which we believe is going to someday represent more than half of all the cruise guests," Carnival CEO Arnold Donald said in a phone interview.

The Asian Cruise Association estimated last year that the overall Asian market, which totaled 1.3 million passengers in 2012, could nearly triple to 3.8 million in 2020, including 1.6 million from China.

Carnival is even more optimistic, predicting the number will grow to 7 million by 2020 or about a fifth of the global market.

"For the next five to 10 years, greater China including Hong Kong will play a critical role to the global cruise industry's development," said Zinan Liu, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd.'s managing director for China.

While the U.S. and European are showing signs of revival, "there's no region like China and Asia that will grow as rapidly," he said.

Liu said Royal Caribbean expects to carry 400,000 Chinese cruise passengers in 2015, double the number from last year, from four main ports — Shanghai, Hong Kong, Xiamen and Tianjin.

The company's 18-deck Quantum of the Seas, which carries 4,180-passengers, arrives in Shanghai in May next year, joining two other Royal Caribbean ships based in China. It's also expanding operations in Hong Kong to better market to customers in neighboring Guangdong, the richest province in mainland China, Liu said.

For Carnival, the addition of the Costa Serena will raise its China capacity by 3,780 passengers. The company has two other Costa brand vessels stationed in Shanghai as well as one with its Princess brand.

While companies are salivating over the growth potential of China's newly wealthy middle class, hurdles remain.

One factor complicating efforts to pitch cruises to mainland Chinese is that "the vast majority of the population have no concept of a cruise," said Donald, Carnival's CEO.

Unlike American or European cruise passengers, who tend to be older and have the time to take two week journeys, Chinese cruise travelers are younger and have less vacation time. That limits the possible itineraries and presents a challenge in cultivating repeat travelers.

Shanghai software engineer Cao Ying took a five-day cruise to Japan and South Korea with her husband on Royal Caribbean's Princess Sapphire after he took one with other staff at his Internet company to entertain clients.

The 30-year-old loved the dining, the shows, the spa and the helpful staff. But she complained that there wasn't enough time during port calls.

"I think travelling by cruise is a good experience, but the downside is that you couldn't really see a lot. I couldn't go to visit the places I would like to go in a foreign country," said Cao. "So unless it's a free trip, I wouldn't take a second cruise, even to go to another country."

Another big complaint is insufficient cruise ports and related facilities. China's focus in the past few decades on export manufacturing means ports are geared to shipping containers rather than leisure travelers.

Uncoordinated infrastructure development was highlighted when Shanghai opened a new $260 million cruise terminal on the city's historic riverside Bund in 2008, only to discover that many big ships couldn't access it because of a low bridge downstream. Another $140 million terminal with two berths opened at the river's mouth in 2011 to accommodate those vessels.

Hong Kong christened a new $1.2 billion cruise terminal last year, but the Norman Foster-designed facility has so far been infrequently used. Visits are expected to pick up in coming years.

Visitors have criticized the terminal, built at the end of the old Kai Tak airport's runway jutting into the scenic harbor, for being hard to access by bus or taxi. A smaller terminal near the city center is more popular and a home base for ships operated by Genting Group's Star Cruises.

China's "lack of infrastructure is the biggest impediment to growth," the annual World Travel Market industry conference, said in a report last year that recommended government intervention to realize improvements.