Judge rules secret FBI letters unconstitutional

SAN FRANCISCO — They're called national security letters and the FBI issues thousands of them a year to banks, phone companies and other businesses demanding customer information. They're sent without judicial review and recipients are barred from disclosing them.

On Friday, a federal judge in San Francisco declared the letters unconstitutional, saying the secretive demands for customer data violate the First Amendment.

The government has failed to show that the letters and the blanket non-disclosure policy "serve the compelling need of national security," and the gag order creates "too large a danger that speech is being unnecessarily restricted," U.S. District Judge Susan Illston wrote.

She ordered the FBI to stop issuing the letters, but put that order on hold for 90 days so the U.S. Department of Justice can pursue an appeal to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.

The DOJ said it is reviewing the decision.

FBI counter-terrorism agents began issuing the letters after Congress passed the USA Patriot Act in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks.

The case arises from a lawsuit that lawyers with the Electronic Frontier Foundation filed in 2011 on behalf of an unnamed telecommunications company that received an FBI demand for customer information.

"We are very pleased that the court recognized the fatal constitutional shortcomings of the NSL statute," EFF lawyer Matt Zimmerman said. "The government's gags have truncated the public debate on these controversial surveillance tools. Our client looks forward to the day when it can publicly discuss its experience."

Illston wrote that she was also troubled by the limited powers judges have to lift the gag orders.

Judges can eliminate the gag order only if they have "no reason to believe that disclosure may endanger the national security of the United States, interfere with a criminal counter-terrorism, or counterintelligence investigation, interfere with diplomatic relations, or endanger the life or physical safety of any person."

That provision also violated the Constitution because it blocks meaningful judicial review.

Illston isn't the first federal judge to find the letters troubling. The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York also found the gag order unconstitutional, but allowed the FBI to continue issuing them if it made changes to its system such as notifying recipients they can ask federal judges to review the letters.

Illston ruled Friday that it's up to Congress, and not the courts, to tinker with the letters.

In 2007, the Justice Department's inspector general found widespread violations in the FBI's use of the letters, including demands without proper authorization and information obtained in non-emergency circumstances. The FBI has tightened oversight of the system.

The FBI made 16,511 national security letter requests for information regarding 7,201 people in 2011, the latest data available. The FBI uses the letters to collect unlimited kinds of sensitive, private information like financial and phone records.

The DOJ didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.

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Obama: US should fund research for cleaner cars

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says the U.S. must shift cars and trucks off oil for good so the public can avoid spikes in gasoline prices.

In his weekly radio and Internet address, Obama promotes a plan to direct $200 million a year into an energy security trust to fund research for alternatives like electric car batteries and biofuels. He says the trust would use revenues from federal leases on offshore drilling without adding to the deficit.

Obama says investing in clean energy will help create jobs. He's envisioning cars that can one day go coast to coast without using any oil.

In the Republican address, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan of Wisconsin says Republicans have a plan to balance the federal budget in 10 years by cutting spending.

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Online:

Obama address: www.whitehouse.gov

GOP address: www.youtube.com/HouseConference

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Number of pigs in and near Shanghai goes to 11,955

BEIJING — The number of dead pigs retrieved from waters in and near China's financial hub of Shanghai has reached nearly 12,000.

The upstream city of Jiaxing — where small hog farms are prevalent — reported Friday night that it had recovered 3,601 dead pigs from its streams, according to state media.

In Shanghai, authorities have retrieved 8,354 swollen and rotting carcasses from Huangpu river, which provides the metropolis with drinking water. The dead pigs are largely believed to be from Jiaxing, but Zhao Shumei, a deputy vice mayor, said it was inconclusive to say all the pigs were from her city.

Both Shanghai, a city of 23 million people, and Jiaxing say there's been no swine epidemic and that tap water remains safe, but local residents remain worried about water contamination.

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Other people who had contact sought in rabies case

Public and military health officials say they're trying to identify people in at least five states who had close contact with an organ donor who died of rabies or with the organ recipients because they might require treatment.

A 20-year-old Air Force recruit from North Carolina who died of rabies in Florida had symptoms of the disease but wasn't tested before his organs were transplanted to four patients, one of whom died of rabies nearly 18 months later, federal health officials said Friday.

The three other organ recipients are getting rabies shots and haven't displayed any symptoms. Doctors at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention declined to speculate on their chances for survival.

"This case is so unique and atypical that we cannot make predictions," said Richard Franka, acting leader of the CDC's rabies team.

Dr. Matthew Kuehnert, director of the agency's Office of Blood, Organ, and Other Tissue Safety, said investigators don't know why doctors in Florida didn't test the donor for rabies before offering his kidneys, heart and liver to people in Florida, Georgia, Illinois and Maryland.

The man in Maryland who received the transplant died in late February. The Defense Department said he was an Army veteran who had transplant surgery at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in early September 2011.

A rabies test after a death can take four hours once the tissue reaches a lab in Atlanta, New York or California, Franka said. That's precious time: A donated kidney remains viable for less than 24 hours; other organs last for less than six.

The donor had seizures and encephalitis — a brain inflammation that can be caused by rabies — but those symptoms can also be caused by a variety of bacterial, viral and other more common conditions.

"Rabies is very unusual, and it can look like a lot of different things," Kuehnert said. "I personally can't say I would have been able to make the correct diagnosis had I been there, without knowing what I know now."

Federal rules require organ banks to disclose "any known or suspected" infectious conditions that might be transmitted by the donor organs.

"We don't know exactly what was communicated, but from what I understand of the patient workup, they did not find any evidence of an infection," Kuehnert said.

The donor died in September 2011 at an undisclosed Florida medical facility. Medical workers believed at the time that he died from encephalitis of unknown origin, Florida Department of Health epidemiologist Dr. Carina Blackmore said.

He was a North Carolina resident who was training to become an aviation mechanic in Pensacola, Fla., when he got sick, Defense Department spokeswoman Cynthia O. Smith said.

A rabies expert unconnected to the case, Dr. Rodney Willoughby of Milwaukee, said the three other recipients have a strong chance of surviving because they haven't shown any symptoms.

Their identities haven't been publicly disclosed.

In North Carolina, state health officials recommended vaccine for at least one of the donor's relatives, said Carl Williams, the state's top public health veterinarian. He said fewer than five family members from North Carolina visited the man while he was hospitalized in Florida. Officials are looking for others who might have had contact with the donor or recipients in those states and in Georgia, Illinois and Maryland.

"What generally happens in human rabies patients that are hospitalized is that there is a lot of close contact, not only from health care workers but from close family because the patient is going to die," Williams said. The disease can be transmitted by saliva from a kiss or tears wiped away, he said.

Rabies attacks the nervous system and is transmitted between humans in saliva. In transplant cases, it can be transmitted through transplanted nerves in the organs.

The CDC hasn't determined how the donor got the raccoon rabies virus that killed him and the Maryland man. Investigators found the virus in their brain tissue.

The Illinois transplant was performed at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago.

The CDC said there has been just one other reported instance of rabies transmission by transplanted solid organs, a 2004 case in which all four recipients died after receiving tissue from an infected donor. There have been at least eight instances of rabies transmission through transplanted corneas, CDC spokeswoman Barbara Reynolds said.

She said rabies is diagnosed as the cause of just one to three deaths per year in the United States.

The Maryland death was announced Tuesday by state health officials. It was the state's first rabies death since 1976. State Public Health Veterinarian Katherine Feldman said doctors suspected before the man died that he had rabies, and they knew about his kidney transplant, but considered a rabies-infected kidney to be a remote possibility.

The raccoon rabies virus has a typical incubation period of one to three months, although there have been other cases of longer incubation periods, the CDC said. In the United States, only one other person is reported to have died from a raccoon-type rabies virus.

After the four deaths in 2004, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services created a committee within the federal Organ Procurement and Transplantation Network to look specifically at disease transmission. Last year, the government published guidelines for evaluating organ donors with central nervous system infections, such as encephalitis. If evidence suggested such an infection, "caution should be considered," the guidelines said.

The Health Resources and Service Administration, which oversees the transplantation network, said Friday that there is no government-approved test to quickly screen organ donors for rabies. Therefore, donation professionals must review the person's medical and social history to assess potential risks.

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Associated Press writers Emery Dalesio in Raleigh, N.C.; Brendan Farrington in Tallahassee, Fla.; Tammy Webber in Springfield, Ill.; Jeff Martin in Atlanta; Eric Tucker in Washington; and researcher Jennifer Farrar in New York contributed to this report.

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Cypriots rue bailout deal's bank deposit levy

NICOSIA, Cyprus — Nervous depositors in Cyprus rushed to ATM machines on Saturday to drain their accounts following a bailout agreement with international creditors that includes a levy on all the country's bank accounts.

Lines formed at many ATMs as people scrambled to pull their money out after word that the €10 billion ($13 billion) rescue package Cyprus agreed with its euro area partners and the International Monetary Fund included one-off levy on deposit, an unprecedented step in the eurozone crisis.

The levy is expected to raise €5.8 billion.

European officials said people with less than €100,000 in their accounts will have to pay a one-time tax of 6.75 percent, those owning more money will lose 9.9 percent. Cypriot bank officials said that depositors can access all their money except the amount set by the levy.

But that hardly assuaged people who continued to withdraw cash from ATMs until the machines ran out, unsure what or how much would be taxed. Officials said that withdrawing funds on Saturday would not reduce anyone's levy.

The country's cooperative banks also shut their doors after depositors scurried in hopes of protecting their savings.

Unlike commercial banks which remain closed on weekends, cooperative banks customarily open for business on Saturday.

The cooperative banks, which represent about a fifth of the island's banking sector, remained open only for a short time. However, people continued to have access to their funds through ATM machines.

"Politicians and senior bank bosses have covered each other's backs for years, now it's ordinary people who are paying the price and are being punished," said Christos Demetriades, 58, milling outside a shut Nicosia cooperative bank branch.

One disgruntled customer at a branch in the southern coastal town of Limassol briefly parked his tractor in front of its shut doors in a show of frustration.

Cyprus' Finance Minister Michalis Sarris defended the decision to accept the levy, saying it was either that or a complete economic meltdown.

"This was the least worst option," he told state broadcaster CyBC. "We battled to prevent the country from completely going bankrupt."

News of the levy came as a shock to most people following strict assurances from Cyprus' President Nicos Anastasiades that he would not accept a deal which required depositors to share in the losses.

Cypriot and European officials feared that forcing depositors take a hit would undermine investors' confidence in Cyprus and other weaker eurozone economies and even possibly lead to bank runs.

Spain's economic ministry said Saturday that the Cyprus deal would not set a pattern for other countries.

"This is a specific agreement for Cyprus, with its complex situation and an oversized banking sector, which represents 80 percent of GDP, well above any other country in using the euro," a ministry statement said. "Because of this, Cyprus' situation and this agreement are not transferable to any other country in the eurozone."

Cyprus has become the fourth euro area country to get a rescue package to save its banks that took massive losses because of their exposure to toxic Greek debt.

The levy stirred up a political firestorm on the tiny island of a million people, with some politicians accusing the government of leading the country to "a tragic dead end."

Government spokesman Christos Stylianides said Cypriot officials had resisted intense pressure to accept a deposit levy of a whopping 40 percent.

Bank bosses are meeting with Central Bank officials to figure out their next steps, while Anastasiades, who returns to Cyprus Saturday evening has called for a meeting of party leaders to assess the unfolding situation.

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Energy drink producer says it is being blackmailed

VIENNA — Energy drink producer Red Bull says it is being blackmailed, with the perpetrators threatening to place cans of its product contaminated with feces on supermarket shelves.

The company says the threats started several weeks ago. But Marcus Neher of the Salzburg Public Prosecutor's office said Friday that "up to now there has only been a claim of contamination," and the company also says that supermarket checks have shown no signs that the product was tampered with.

The company sells its energy drink worldwide. In a statement, it says it is "cooperating closely" with police but offers no details on the perpetrators' demands.

There was also no information on the location of the stores named by the blackmailers.

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Ex-JPMorgan exec says her oversight was undermined

WASHINGTON — A former top executive for JPMorgan Chase is blaming last year's $6.2 billion trading loss on other executives at the firm, telling a Senate panel Friday that they undermined her oversight at the firm.

Ina Drew, the firm's former chief investment officer overseeing trading strategy, told the Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations that executives under her watch failed to control risks out of the London office and that kept her from preventing the losses.

The hearing occurred a day after the Senate panel issued a report that ascribed widespread blame to key executives at the firm. The report said they ignored growing risks and hid losses from investors and federal regulators.

Drew blamed executives in two units that reported to her. She says her risk management team failed to flag the risks, while her finance executives did not properly review the values assigned to transactions.

After the trading loss came to light, Drew resigned after 30 years with the firm and voluntarily paid back two years of salary.

She said Friday that while she doesn't believe she bore personal responsibility for the losses, she decided to step down to make it easier for JPMorgan "to move beyond these issues." Her comments were her first public remarks since leaving the firm.

The report noted that executives at JPMorgan understated the trading losses to federal examiners by hundreds of millions of dollars and dismissed questions raised about the trading risks. It also suggested that key executives, including CEO Jamie Dimon, were aware of huge losses at the bank, even while they were downplaying the risks publicly.

The "trading culture at JPMorgan ... piled on risk, hid losses, disregarded risk limits, manipulated risk models, dodged oversight and misinformed the public," Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., the subcommittee's chairman, said Friday at the hearing.

On Thursday, JPMorgan acknowledged it made mistakes but rejected any assertions that it concealed losses or risks. A spokesman declined to comment directly on the accusation that Dimon knew of the trading loss in April.

In April, news reports said a trader in JPMorgan's London office known as "the whale" had taken huge risks that were roiling the markets. Dimon immediately dismissed the reports as a "tempest in a teapot" during a conference call with analysts.

But in May, Dimon acknowledged that the bank had lost roughly $2 billon. And during testimony to a separate Senate panel in June, Dimon said the bank showed "bad judgment," was "stupid" and "took far too much risk."

The figure was later revised to more than $6 billion.

The loss came less than four years after the 2008 financial crisis and hurt the reputation of a bank that had come through the crisis known for taking fewer risks than its competitors. Three employees in the London office were fired — two senior managers and a trader. It also led to Drew's resignation.

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Survey: Facebook’s Zuckerberg is top-rated CEO

Apple CEO Tim Cook, the highest-rated chief executive according to Glassdoor last year, dropped to the 18th position this year on the jobs and career database's annual survey of the 50 top U.S. CEOs.

Cook saw his approval rating drop four percentage points to 93 percent. The survey, released today, is based on insights from company employees.

Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg took top honors this year, followed by SAP co-CEOs Bill McDermott and Jim Hagemann Snabe, McKinsey & Co. CEO Dominic Barton, Ernst & Young CEO Jim Turley, and Northwestern Mutual CEO John E. Schlifske.

Three area CEOs also made the list — Joe Tucci of Hopkinton-based EMC Corp., who ranked No. 7; Edward "Ned" Johnson III of Boston-based Fidelity Investments, who ranked No. 31; and Alan J. Herrick of Boston-based Sapient, who ranked No. 35.

Chief executives new to this year's list include S. Truett Cathy of Chick-fil-A (26); Sharen Turney of Victoria's Secret (42), the only woman on this year's report; and Michael S. Dell of Dell (49).

"While anyone can assume a position in leadership, not everyone garners their employees' support for how they lead the company. The CEOs who are most successful in gaining employee approval are those who paint a clear vision of what the company is setting out to achieve and how it's going to get there," said Robert Hohman, Glassdoor CEO and co-founder. "To be recognized by your employees as a strong leader also comes as a result of having a solid company culture that helps employees foster the skills necessary to move business forward and meet the needs of customers."

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SideCar ride-sharing app expands to Boston

Mobile ride-sharing app SideCar said today it is adding Boston, Chicago and Brooklyn to its growing roster of cities, mere days after competitor Uber was accused of violating state and city laws with its own services in a lawsuit filed by the Hub's taxi industry.

Launched in San Francisco last year, SideCar currently operates in eight U.S. markets, including Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Austin and Seattle.

Unlike Uber and recent Hub service Hailo, SideCar is neither a taxi nor a limo service, but rather a ride-matching app "that connects people who need rides with vetted drivers from the community who are able and willing to share a ride," according to its website.

The company added all payments are "completely voluntary and are handled via a cashless, donation-based system between smartphones," and that all drivers are pre-vetted for safety and are free to give rides whenever they want.

On Tuesday, members of Boston's taxi industry filed a nine-count lawsuit in Suffolk Superior Court against San Francisco-based Uber, accusing the company of operating a car-for-hire service that violates state and city laws, and deceives consumers about fees, drivers, safety and insurance.

"Uber pays none of the substantial capital costs and expenses required to operate a legal taxi and livery car business in Boston," said attorney Sam Perkins, who filed the suit on behalf of Boston Cab Dispatch Inc., and EJT Management, this week. "It uses a dispatch system that is not approved, ignores regulations that are essential to public safety and uses a payment system that illegally overcharges customers."

Michael Pao, general manager of Uber Boston, called the charges "baseless," adding Gov. Deval Patrick reversed a prior ban on the service in the Hub last summer.

"The Uber app is changing the transportation industry. In jurisdictions such as California, New York, Washington, D.C., and — yes — Massachusetts, there has been a steady drumbeat of progress in which pro-consumer, pro-innovation policymakers have recognized that everyone wins when new technology that fosters efficiency, affordability and choice in transportation is allowed to flourish," Pao said in a statement. "Hundreds of thousands of people all across the country and the world are embracing the convenience and reliability of the Uber technology."

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Royal Dutch Shell CEO to speak in Boston

Peter Voser, CEO of Royal Dutch Shell, will be the keynote speaker at Boston College's Chief Executives' Club of Boston luncheon on March 21 at the Boston Harbor Hotel.

Voser is expected to discuss the future energy challenge, climate change, renewable energy and the impact the North American shale revolution will have on the United States and the world for years to come, officials said.

Royal Dutch Shell, which employs 90,000 people worldwide, reported revenue of $467 billion last year, officials said.

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Investors call an end to week-long rally, cash in

LONDON — Investors are calling an end to the past week's remarkable rally, with many cashing in on stocks Wednesday despite more strong economic data out of the U.S.

A U.S. government report showed retail sales grew 1.1 percent in January from the previous month, almost twice as much as analysts' forecasts for a 0.6 percent gain. The rise showed consumer spending, which makes up for about three quarters of economic activity in the U.S., was unfazed by tax increases.

But the good news was not enough to encourage investors to keep buying into a stock market that has been rallying steadily for a week, pushing the Dow to break multiple records and many other indexes to multi-year highs.

By midafternoon in Europe, Britain's FTSE 100 was down 0.8 percent at 6,458.95 while Germany's DAX was flat at 7,966.69. France's CAC-40 fell 0.2 percent to 3,833.31.

Wall Street opened lower, with the Dow down 0.2 percent at 14,427.58 after closing higher for eight consecutive days. The broader S&P 500 slipped the same rate to 1,549.98.

Market sentiment had been dented earlier in the day, when official statistics showed that industrial production across the 17-country eurozone fell by 0.4 percent in January, worse than analysts' predictions for an unchanged reading. Both Germany and France, the two industrial powerhouses in the region, registered drops in production, suggesting the sector is contributing to keeping the eurozone in recession.

"January's fall in eurozone industrial production is a timely reminder that, despite the improvement in business and financial market sentiment, the region is likely to have remained in recession in the first quarter," said Ben May, analyst at Capital Economics in London.

That helped push the euro down a sharp 0.7 percent to $1.2942.

Earlier in Asia, Japan's Nikkei 225 index fell 0.6 percent to close at 12,239.66 as the yen stopped dropping and recovered against the dollar, which was down 0.4 percent against the Japanese currency at 95.67.

The yen has been weak against other currencies in recent weeks because of expectations of monetary easing by the Bank of Japan under the leadership of its incoming chief, Haruhiko Kuroda.

Kuroda has been critical of the central bank's policies in the past and is thought to back Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's strategies for seeking to revive Japan's economy by fighting deflation through monetary easing and hefty government spending.

South Korea's Kospi rose 0.2 percent to 1,997.69. Australia's S&P/ASX 200 lost 0.5 percent at 5,092.40.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng shed 1.5 percent to 22,556.65. Stocks in mainland China also fell. The Shanghai Composite Index tumbled 1.4 percent to 2,253.74. The smaller Shenzhen Composite Index lost 1.9 percent at 918.10.

In commodity markets, the benchmark contract for crude oil for April delivery was up 61 cents to $93.15 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 48 cents on Tuesday.

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Pamela Sampson in Bangkok contributed to this report.

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US retail sales up solid 1.1 percent in February

WASHINGTON — Americans spent at the fastest pace in five months in February, boosting retail spending 1.1 percent compared with January. About half the jump reflected higher gas prices, but even excluding gas purchases, retail sales rose 0.6 percent.

The report Wednesday from the Commerce Department showed that Americans kept spending last month despite higher Social Security taxes that took effect this year. The retail sales report is the government's first look each month at consumer spending, which drives about 70 percent of economic activity.

Core retail sales, which exclude the volatile categories of gas, autos and building supply stores, rose 0.4 percent in February compared with January.

Economists were encouraged by the stronger-than-expected gain in retail sales. Some said the increase means the economy may be growing faster in the January-March quarter than they had forecast.

"This all suggests that the hit to spending from the payroll tax cut and higher gasoline prices, which reduce the amount of cash available to spend on other items, hasn't been too bad," said Paul Dales, senior U.S. economist at Capital Economics. "The recent pickup in both employment and earnings growth bodes well for consumption growth later in the year, too."

Auto sales rose 1.1 percent after a 0.4 percent January increase. The February gain was the biggest since December. Sales at gas stations surged 5 percent, the biggest advance since a 6 percent rise in August.

Sales at general merchandise stores, a category that includes major department stores such as Macy's and big discount stores such as Wal-Mart and Target, rose 0.5 percent in February. But the department store category as a whole fell 1 percent.

The solid increase in retail sales showed that Americans kept spending despite a payroll tax increase that has lowered take-home pay this year for most workers. Someone earning $50,000 has about $1,000 less to spend in 2013. A household with two high-paid workers has up to $4,500 less.

Consumers may be able to absorb higher taxes if employers continue hiring and increasing wages.

The economy added 236,000 jobs in February, driving the unemployment rate down to 7.7 percent, its lowest level in more than four years. The gains signaled that companies are confident enough in the economy to intensify hiring even in the face of tax increases and government spending cuts.

Since November, employers have added an average of 205,000 jobs a month, up from 154,000 a month in the previous four months. The hiring spree has been fueled by steady improvement in housing, auto sales, manufacturing and corporate profits, along with record-low borrowing rates.

An improving in job market has also helped lift consumer confidence. And if it continues, it could provide a spark to growth after a dismal fourth quarter of 2012.

Many analysts believe the U.S. economy will grow a modest 2 percent this year. While job gains should help provide some momentum, growth will likely be held back by uncertainty about the federal budget, higher Social Security taxes and across-the-board government spending cuts that kicked in March 1.

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Philip Morris Int'l CEO Camilleri to step down

RICHMOND, Va. — Philip Morris International Inc. said Wednesday that CEO Louis C. Camilleri will step down and be replaced by the man who led it before it became an independent company.

The seller of Marlboro and other cigarette brands overseas said its current chief operating officer, Andre Calantzopoulos, will become CEO immediately after the company's annual shareholder meeting May 8. He also was nominated for election to the board. Camilleri will remain in his current job of chairman, the company said.

Philip Morris International, which has offices in Lausanne, Switzerland, and New York, is second in size only to state-controlled China National Tobacco Corp. It was spun off in 2008 from Richmond, Va.-based Altria Group Inc., owner of Philip Morris USA, which still sells Marlboro and other Philip Morris brands in the U.S.

In 2012, Philip Morris International's net income grew 2.4 percent to $8.8 billion. Revenue excluding excise taxes increased about 1 percent to $31.4 billion. Its shipments were up more than 1 percent to 927 billion cigarettes and its market share, excluding China and the U.S., grew to a record 28.8 percent.

Calantzopoulos, 55, has served as chief operating officer since the company spinoff from Altria. He joined the company in 1985 and served as its CEO of the international unit from 2002 until the spinoff.

The 58-year-old Camilleri was CEO of Altria in 2002, when it first embarked on a restructuring that led to the spin-off of Kraft Foods Inc., then the separation of the two cigarette makers.

The often-unapologetic Camilleri gained international media attention in 2011 when he told a cancer nurse that while cigarettes are harmful and addictive, it is not that hard to quit.

The statement was in response to comments at its annual shareholder meeting, in which executives usually spend much of the time sparring with members of anti-tobacco and other corporate accountability groups.

The nurse, later identified as Elisabeth Gundersen from the University of California-San Francisco, cited statistics that tobacco use kills more than 400,000 Americans and 5 million people worldwide each year. She is a member of The Nightingales Nurses, an activist group that works to focus public attention on the tobacco industry.

Gundersen also said a patient had recently told her that of all the addictions he's beaten — crack, cocaine, meth — cigarettes have been the most difficult.

In response, Camilleri said: "We take our responsibility very seriously, and I don't think we get enough recognition for the efforts we make to ensure that there is effective worldwide regulation of a product that is harmful and that is addictive. Nevertheless, whilst it is addictive, it is not that hard to quit. ... There are more previous smokers in America today than current smokers."

Camilleri, a longtime smoker, was quoted in an April 2009 BusinessWeek article as saying he had quit only once, for three months when he had a cold.

In recent years, tax hikes, smoking bans, health concerns and social stigma worldwide have made the cigarette business tougher. The fact that the impact on cigarette demand generally has been less stark outside the U.S. has benefited Philip Morris International. Still the company faces challenges that are as wide-ranging as its reach.

The company has said regulations, including bans on product displays, ingredients and colorful packaging, have impeded competition and add costs for retailers.

Varying degrees of tax hikes and economic challenges also have encouraged adult smokers to make choices purely on price and have fostered black markets.

Philip Morris International has compensated for volume declines — particularly in developed markets like the European Union, Latin America and Canada — by raising prices, cutting costs and focusing on emerging markets in Asia, as well as the Eastern Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

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Michael Felberbaum can be reached at http://www.twitter.com/MLFelberbaum .

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US businesses boost restocking 1 percent

WASHINGTON — U.S. companies increased their restocking in January from December, an encouraging signal that they expect consumers will spend more this year and help the economy grow faster.

The Commerce Department said Wednesday that business stockpiles grew 1 percent in January. That's up from 0.3 percent growth in December and the biggest gain since May 2011.

Total business sales fell 0.3 percent in January after a slight 0.1 percent rise in December.

Weak growth in restocking was a key reason the economy barely grew from October through December. Since then, job growth has accelerated and wages have steadily risen. The combination could lead to greater consumer demand, prompting more business restocking and economic growth.

A separate report Wednesday showed that retail sales rose 1.1 percent in February, providing evidence that consumers are being helped by the stronger wage growth.

Retail stockpiles also increased 4 percent. Wholesale stockpiles grew 1.2 percent, the biggest gain in 13 months. Stockpiles held by manufacturers rose 0.5 percent.

The economy grew only 0.1 percent rate in the fourth quarter. Still, sharp defense cuts and sluggish restocking, both volatile factors, were the main reasons for the weak growth.

Economists say faster restocking in the current quarter should help lift growth to around 2 percent in the January-March period.

Demand could rise even further if employers continuing hiring at a brisk pace.

The economy added 236,000 jobs in February. That capped a four-month hiring spree in which the economy averaged 205,000 net jobs per month. And it pushed the unemployment rate to a four-year low of 7.7 percent, down from 7.9 percent in January.

Strong auto sales and a steady housing recovery are spurring more hiring, which could trigger more consumer spending and lead to stronger economic growth. Auto sales rose in January and February after reaching a five-year high in 2012.

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Silver Spring Networks shares jump in debut

NEW YORK — Shares of Silver Spring Networks Inc. jumped as much as 32 percent in their trading debut.

In Wednesday morning trading, the shares rose $4.05, or 24 percent, to $21.04. They had risen as much as 32 percent to $22.49 earlier in the session.

Earlier, the Redwood City, Calif.-based company sold 4.8 million shares of common stock in its IPO for $17 each, resulting in proceeds of about $807.5 million. The offering's underwriters also have a 30-day option to buy up to an additional 712,500 shares at the IPO price.

Silver Spring provides a networking platform and services that help utilities upgrade their power grid infrastructure. Its shares are trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "SSNI."

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Landmark Otis business for sale

OTIS, Mass. — A landmark Berkshire County business known for its humorous signs that's been in the same family for more than a century is for sale.

Otis Poultry Farm owner Andy Pyenson is asking $1.8 million for the business, which includes a restaurant with a liquor license, an old-time country store and 25 acres of lakefront land.

The business stopped raising chickens in 2006, but is still famous for its homemade chicken and turkey pot pies.

Pyenson tells The Berkshire Eagle (http://bit.ly/14RZwvr ) he's 62 and ready to retire. He wants to sell to someone who's going to continue the legacy of the business founded by his grandparents in 1904.

The buildings are adorned with funny signs, including "Limited Edition Eggs. Only Laid Once" and "chicken Hilton, no vacancy," on a now empty hen house.

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Information from: The Berkshire (Mass.) Eagle, http://www.berkshireeagle.com

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China willing to talk with US over cyberattacks

BEIJING — China says it is willing to cooperate with the United States in cybersecurity after the U.S. called on it to take "serious steps" to stop cyberattacks.

Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying repeated China's assertion that it is firmly opposed to cyberattacks and one of the countries that has suffered most from them. She says the country cracks down on such hackers according to the law.

Hua said Tuesday: "Cyberspace needs rules and cooperation, not wars. China is willing to have constructive dialogue and cooperation with the global community, including the United States."

U.S. National Security adviser Tom Donilon's comments Monday reflect American concern over cyber intrusions and their economic costs.

Last month, a U.S.-based cybersecurity firm accused a Chinese military unit of attacking more than 140 mostly American companies.

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Feds bust up $100M NC crop insurance fraud ring

RALEIGH, N.C. — Federal authorities in North Carolina have unraveled a massive criminal conspiracy they say defrauded $100 million from the government-backed program that insures farmers against crop losses.

Prosecutors say the scheme is the largest of its kind uncovered in the country: 41 insurance agents, claims adjusters, crop brokers and farmers have pleaded guilty or reached plea agreements so far. The defendants have been sentenced to pay $43 million in fines and restitution, as well as years in prison.

The ring filed false insurance claims for weather-related loses of tobacco, soybeans, wheat and corn. Often, the crops weren't damaged at all, with farmers later selling their written-off harvests under false aliases.

Prosecutors say those abusing the system make it harder on honest farmers by increasing the cost of insurance premiums.

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Maine, NH shipyard workers bracing for cuts

PORTSMOUTH, N.H. — Workers at the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard are bracing for pay cuts as the Department of Defense works to trim its budget.

In order to meet required budget cuts, the Department of Defense is telling civilian workers they must take 22 furlough days over the next six months.

Paul O'Connor of the Shipyard Metal Trades Council tells WMUR-TV  the cuts have meant a surge in applications for retirement. He said a month less of productivity means a costly backup of overhaul work on nuclear submarines.

Administrators are working with unions to figure out how to schedule the furlough time.

More than 5,000 people worked at the Kittery, Maine, shipyard last year. Nearly 2,000 of them live in New Hampshire.

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Information from: WMUR-TV

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Solid US opening gives European markets a lift

LONDON — A perky start to trading on Wall Street helped European markets eke out gains Tuesday, though a dearth of scheduled economic news has kept many investors on the sidelines.

With the Dow Jones index recording a series of all-time highs and many of the world's major stock indexes at multi-year highs, too, investors are mulling whether the recent rally can make another push higher.

"Nobody wants to get off the gravy train too soon, but on the other hand no one wants to commit to buying a season ticket," said David Madden, market analyst at IG.

In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was up 0.4 percent at 6,529 while Germany's DAX rose 0.1 percent to 7,992. The CAC-40 in France was 0.4 percent higher at 3,853.

In the U.S., stocks mostly advanced even though futures markets had been predicting modest losses. The Dow Jones industrial average was up 0.2 percent at 14,475 and on course for another record close, while the broader S&P 500 index was flat at 1,556.

For much of the past month, the Dow has been the focus as it tried to breach its previous high. Now, attention is turning to the S&P as it too heads for a record peak.

"Although the S&P is within a whisker of fresh all-time highs, history has shown us that in both 2000 and 2007 when it's been around this level, it's been the tipping point for a considerable sell-off," said Fawad Razaqzada, market strategist at GFT Markets. "Whether 2013 can be any different remains to be seen."

The recovery in the stock market mood was evident elsewhere as supposedly riskier assets recovered, too. The euro was up 0.2 percent at $1.3063 while the price of benchmark New York crude rose $1.30 to $93.36 a barrel.

Two currencies were having a particularly volatile day.

The British pound fell as far as $1.4830, its lowest level since June 2010, after weak British industrial production figures raised fears that Europe's third-largest economy was heading for its third recession in a little more than four years. The pound has since settled around the $1.4875 mark.

The Japanese yen was also a focal point once again, as it recovered some of its recent losses. The dollar was 0.3 percent lower at $96.24 yen. The yen earlier fell to a three and a half year low against the dollar on mounting expectations that the Bank of Japan will soon announce a big stimulus program to get the moribund Japanese economy going again.

The reverse in the yen had an impact on the country's main stock index, the Nikkei 225. It did an about-face after spurting higher in the morning. After hitting 12,461.97, an intraday high not seen in more than four years, the benchmark dropped 0.3 percent to close at 12,314.81. That finish put an end to an eight-day winning streak.

The index's moves have hinged on the fortunes of the yen. A lower currency potentially makes the country's exports more competitive in international markets.

Elsewhere in Asia, Hong Kong's Hang Seng fell 0.9 percent to 22,890.60. Australia's S&P/ASX dropped 0.6 percent to 5,117.90. South Korea's Kospi shed 0.5 percent to 1,993.34.

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Cubist acquires rights to drug that treats infections

Lexington-based Cubist Pharmaceuticals said today it has entered into an agreement to obtain the remaining rights to ceftolozane, a drug designed to treat urinary tract infections, in certain Asia-Pacific and Middle East territories from Astellas Pharma Inc.

Cubist will now own worldwide rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize the drug, which in combination with tazobactam is currently being studied in two third-round trials as a potential first-line intravenous therapy for treating complicated intra-abdominal infections and urinary tract infections.

Cubist previously obtained the rights, outside of the specific Asia-Pacific and Middle East regions, to develop and commercialize the drug through its acquisition of Calixa Therapeutics Inc. in December 2009.

Under terms of the agreement, Astellas will receive an upfront payment of $25 million, and sales of the drug made in the newly-obtained territories will be counted toward the existing commercial milestone and royalty terms of the original agreement, officials said. Cubist added it will fund the upfront payment with cash on hand.

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Colliers International hires John Hines as new VP

Commercial real estate services company Colliers International said today it has hired John Hines as a vice president in its corporate services division at the company's Boston office.

Hines will focus on exclusive tenant representation for multi-market, national and international real estate portfolios, officials said.

Most recently, Hines served as transaction manager at CB Richard Ellis, where he provided exclusive representation for Sovereign Bank and Bank of America, managing transactions for each firm's Northeast regional retail and office portfolios.

Prior to CBRE, Hines spent 10 years with Trammell Crow Company where he led the firm's client services division, advising such clients as EMC Corp., Fidelity Investments, John Hancock, Kronos and Staples.

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Israeli firm Nipendo raises $8M, will open Hub HQ

Israeli technology company Nipendo said today it has raised $8 million in a second round of funding, which it will use to scale its business operations and expand to the United States by opening its new headquarters in Boston.

The funding round was led by Facebook, Spotify and Siri investor Horizons Ventures. Tel Aviv-based Magma Venture Partners also participated in the round.

The company added that Gilad Novik, chief technology officer of Horizons Ventures, has joined Nipendo's board of directors.

Nipendo said it provides enterprise-level organizations with a highly scalable, cloud-based, trading partner network that removes the barriers to widespread deployment of electronic procurement and invoicing.

The company said its platform is used by numerous companies, including Pfizer, HP, IBM and Office Depot.

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Brown Rudnick hires Adolfo Garcia as partner

Brown Rudnick LLP said today it has hired Adolfo R. Garcia as a partner in the law firm's corporate and capital markets department.

Prior to joining Brown Rudnick, Garcia was a partner at K&L Gates.

Previously, Garcia was a partner in the corporate department at Ropes & Gray and served as co-founder and co-head of Ropes & Gray's international practice where he integrated, managed and expanded a worldwide network of international counsel.

"Few U.S. attorneys can rival Dolf's global expertise, or his reputation for being a world class corporate advisor. Our clients in the U.S. and abroad will benefit greatly from Dolf's knowledge, capabilities and tremendous depth of experiences," said Joseph F. Ryan, chairman and CEO of Brown Rudnick, in a statement. "With the addition of Dolf to our corporate practice, Brown Rudnick further advances our strategic goal of providing top tier legal talent and expertise to our clients who do business here and across the globe."

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Dominion Resources to sell trio of power stations

RICHMOND, Va. — Dominion Resources Inc. said Monday that it has agreed to sell three power stations to funds controlled by the private equity firm Energy Capital Partners as part of its plan to exit the merchant coal-fired generation business.

The Richmond, Va.-based energy provider said the sale is expected to result in after-tax proceeds of about $650 million, which includes cash tax benefits generated by the sale.

The deal remains subject to Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and antitrust approvals and is expected to close in the second quarter.

The stations include a 1,528-megawatt power station in Somerset, Mass., with three coal-fired units and one unit fired by oil or natural gas; a 1,158-megawatt power station in the southern Illinois town of Kincaid with two 579-megawatt coal-fired units; and a 1,424-megawatt power station outside Chicago, with nine natural gas-fired combustion turbines.

The buyer has offices in Short Hills, N.J., and San Diego,

Dominion said last year that it would exit the merchant coal-fired generation business as part of a refocusing of its resources on the more profitable ventures. The company said it plans to invest the proceeds of Monday's sale in its regulated businesses and to reduce debt.

Dominion shares rose 30 cents to $56.17 in morning trading. Its shares have traded in a 52-week range of $48.94 to $57.19.

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Bill sees role for dental practitioners in Mass.

Bill sees role for dental practitioners in Mass.

BOSTON — Dental hygienists with advanced training could perform certain procedures now reserved for dentists, including routine fillings and tooth extractions, under a bill that supporters believe would improve access to oral health care for low-income Massachusetts residents and underprivileged children.

The legislation would create a new, midlevel position called advanced dental hygiene practitioner, similar to a nurse practitioner in a physician's office and comparable to dental therapists that operate in more than 50 other countries. The proposal is being viewed with some alarm by dentists, who are worried about patient safety and adequacy of the training requirements contained in the bill.

"We love our dentists. They do a good job, but there are not enough of them," said state Sen. Harriette Chandler, D-Worcester, who has sponsored the bill along with Rep. William "Smitty" Pignatelli, D-Lenox.

A dental practitioner would not supplant the traditional family dentist nor prompt any fundamental realignment of responsibilities in a typical dentist's office, backers insist. In fact, the vast majority of people with dental insurance who see a dentist regularly for cleanings and other services would likely encounter no change in routine.

But for the poor, the uninsured and those who live in parts of the state where there are too few dentists, the advanced hygienist could provide access to preventative care that is otherwise not available.

"It is long overdue," said Jacklyn Ventura, a dental hygienist who directs Mass Healthy Smiles, a private organization that offers screenings and other services, such as cleanings and fluoride, to children in community settings such as public schools and day care facilities.

"Dentistry is so expensive. When families have more than one child, it can put them back six months just to have regular visits," Ventura said.

Supporters see the bill as a natural extension of a three-year-old Massachusetts law that allowed professionals like Ventura to provide typical dental hygiene services in public settings without direct supervision from dentists.

The legislation would take it a step further by allowing dental practitioners to perform non-surgical tasks, including the pulling teeth or filling small cavities — but only when such procedures do not require root canal, periodontal surgery or other more complex intervention.

"It would bridge that gap between what public health hygienists can do and what dentists can do," said Katherine Pelullo, who chairs the Council on Regulations & Practice for the Massachusetts Dental Hygienists' Association.

In more than half of the state's 351 cities and towns, no dentists accept MassHealth, the state's Medicaid program, and 53 percent of children in families eligible for MassHealth did not see a dentist in 2011, according to the association. Additionally, the group says, more than 600,000 residents live in areas of the state designated as having a shortage of dentists, and elderly in nursing homes often go without dental care.

The Division of Health Care Finance and Policy estimated that 31,000 hospital emergency room visits in 2011 resulted from preventable dental crises.

Supporters of the bill say they do not foresee a huge rush by current dental hygienists to become advanced practitioners. Achieving that designation would require an additional 12-18 months of study in a master's level program, along with 500 hours of practice under the direct supervision of a dentist and other requirements.

Still, many dentists are wary.

"It clearly is a major change in the practice paradigm in oral health," said Dr. Paula Friedman, president of the Massachusetts Dental Society and professor at Boston University's Henry M. Goldman School of Dental Medicine.

"I have real concerns about safety of the public from someone who has only had 18 months of postsecondary education. The reality is that many people feel four years of dental school is not enough to teach people what they need to know," Friedman said.

The dental society has yet to take a formal position on the legislation. Friedman says it needs more vetting. Chandler said lawmakers are prepared to address concerns about safety and training and fine-tune the bill if necessary.

"We have to guarantee the safety of our patients," she said.

In 2009, Minnesota became the first U.S. state to license a similar category called dental therapists. In Alaska, dental therapists have provided care to native tribes for the past decade.

A number of states are weighing similar laws including New Hampshire, where a hearing was held this month on a bill allowing dental therapists.

The Massachusetts bill has been referred to the Legislature's Committee on Public Health. No hearing date has been set.

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Denmark's TV2 used computer game image for report

COPENHAGEN, Denmark — A Danish television channel has admitted it mistakenly used an image from a computer game to illustrate a news report about Syria.

TV2 Head of News Jacob Nybroe said Sunday the picture that was used as a backdrop behind news anchor Cecilie Beck on Feb. 26 came from adventure game Assassin's Creed.

He says he learned about the mistake this week, following speculation about the origin of the image on social media sites.

One of the TV channel's employees had found the image online and thought it was a photo of Damascus' skyline.

Nybroe says it was a terrible mistake and a "reminder to us all of the importance of verifying the sources of pictures."

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Online:

http://nyhederne.tv2.dk/video/index/id/65097458/

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Reports: Harvard secretly searched deans' emails

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. — Reports say Harvard University administrators secretly searched the emails of 16 deans last fall, looking for a leak to the media about a case of cheating.

Citing school officials, The Boston Globe and The New York Times are reporting that the email accounts belonged to deans on a committee addressing the cheating. They were not warned that administrators sought access to their accounts. Only one was told of the search shortly afterward.

The Globe, which first reported the searches, wrote that Harvard College says it would take all actions necessary to protect the integrity of its confidential disciplinary process.

A spokesman did not immediately return an email Sunday seeking comment.

Harvard issued academic sanctions last month against scores of students forced to withdraw in a cheating scandal for an exam.

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Time spin-off highlights risks facing magazines

LOS ANGELES — From Sports Illustrated to People to its namesake magazine, Time Inc., was always an innovator. But now when the troubled magazine industry is facing its greatest challenge, the company Henry Luce founded is struggling to find its way in a digital world.

Time Warner Inc.'s decision to shed its Time Inc. magazine unit last week underscores the challenges facing an industry that remains wedded to glossy paper even as the use of tablet computers, e-readers and smartphones explodes.

Although the new devices might seem to present an array of opportunity for Time Inc.'s 95 magazine titles, many publishers have found the digital transition troublesome. Digital editions of magazines represented just 2.4 percent of all U.S. circulation in the last half of 2012, or about 7.9 million copies, according to the Alliance for Audited Media.

Although that number more than doubled from a year earlier, it's hardly gangbusters growth, considering that the number of tablets in the U.S. also more than doubled last year to 64.8 million, according to research firm IHS.

The fact that so few tablet owners are buying magazines on their devices is a concern because both ad and circulation revenue from print editions have fallen more than 20 percent since their peak near the middle of the last decade. And, according to forecasts, there's no recovery in sight.

"We have to get much better at capturing those (digital) readers," said Mary Berner, president of The Association of Magazine Media.

Before publishers can accomplish that, they need to address a number of problems, experts say. First, the range of free content on the Web has given some readers the impression that it's not necessary to pay for the digital versions of magazine stories. Also, there's no industry standard for pricing. Publishers aren't in agreement over whether to include free access to digital copies as part of a print subscription.

There are technical challenges, too. It's been difficult for magazine makers to create compelling digital editions that fit every screen size and resolution.

Berner acknowledges that customer confusion is part of what's preventing the magazine industry from selling more digital copies. She is working with industry players like Time Inc., Hearst Corp., Conde Nast and Meredith Corp. to standardize both the format of magazines and the way they are sold.

"There used to be a couple ways you used to be able to get a magazine: you could subscribe or buy it at the newsstand. Now there's 25 ways. Joe Average consumer just isn't that clear on it yet," she said. "The confusing part is hurting."

Advertisers are making matters worse. The ad industry has been slow to warm to the notion that they still need to pay top dollar to advertise in the tablet editions of magazines, even though much cheaper website ads are just a finger-swipe away.

But many magazines still command significant premiums. A full-page ad in Elle magazine, for instance, costs $155,680 to reach the readers of 1.1 million copies, or about $141 for every 1,000, according to a rate card that the magazine posted online.

Compare that to a 30-second ad during this year's Super Bowl, which —at most— cost $37 per 1,000 TV households, or $4 million to reach 108 million TV sets, according to CBS. A typical website ad costs in the single-digit dollars per 1,000 viewers, although pricing varies by ad size and other features.

Magazine insiders say the price of their ad space is worth it because ads reach a targeted, engaged audience that actually wants to see the commercial come-ons. Even so, advertisers bristle at the idea that tablet editions command the same price premium as print pages.

"The costs per thousand are out of whack," said George Janson, director of print for GroupM, a subsidiary of advertising agency giant WPP, whose clients include Ikea, Mars Inc., Marriott and Xerox. "The advertising challenge is there haven't been a lot of metrics. There's very little accountability. That's starting to change now at the advertisers' insistence."

The magazine industry's slim but growing digital subscriber base could help convince advertisers of the value of magazines. Research firm eMarketer predicts that while print magazine ad revenue will remain flat at about $15.1 billion from 2011 to 2016, digital magazine ad revenue will grow from $2.7 billion to $4.1 billion over the same period.

"Tablets have reinvigorated magazine ad revenues," said eMarketer spokesman Clark Fredricksen.

But even as overall magazine advertising revenue grows, it's not expanding nearly as fast as U.S. ad spending as a whole. The predicted turnaround won't return the industry to pre-recession levels —and it may come too late for Time Warner Inc.

Revenue at its Time Inc. unit slipped to $3.4 billion in 2012, about 38 percent below its peak in 2004. Operating profit declined to $420 million, down by more than half of the $934 million posted eight years earlier.

Analysts say spinning off the magazines into a separate, publicly traded company reduces Time Warner's risk. On Friday, two days after Time Warner announced the spin-off, its shares hit a 52-week high of $57.85.

Tony Wible, an analyst with Janney Capital Markets, said the spin-off frees Time Warner from the uncertainty of the magazine industry's digital transition.

"It has the potential to save money, increase revenue per ad, improve measurement, and increase distribution," he wrote in a research note, "but it also competes with a growing number of free online publications and there may be few ad slots in the new medium."

In other words, it's better for parent Time Warner to separate itself now.

Reed Phillips, the CEO of media company advisory firm DeSilva + Phillips, said that for the parent company, there is too much risk involved if the magazines stay.

"Will you come out on the other end as large and as profitable as the current company? There's a lot of concern," he said. "Because of the volatility, that's why Time Warner wants to spin off Time Inc."

Meanwhile, magazine publishers are carefully parsing consumer behavior data to learn how they might make digital magazines more attractive to readers and advertisers. They want to know which ads attract consumers and how long readers engage with an ad. They trying to learn how people read magazines (So far, it's still front to back). It's still not clear whether such data is valuable to advertisers and worth paying more.

"This is a fairly early stage business," said Liz Schimel, the chief digital officer at Meredith Corp., which was in talks to combine with Time Inc. before talks were called off. "We're still in lots of conversations about models and features and metrics."

Magazines don't have a lot of time to figure the digital transition out. TV and digital ad spending is growing quickly, and there are more ways than ever to track down consumers and get a company's message in front of them.

"It's not just print and TV and radio," said Brenda White, a senior vice president in charge of publishing industry ad spending at Starcom USA, a subsidiary of ad agency giant Publicis Groupe, whose clients include Facebook Inc. and Google Inc. "There are all these different digital channels: mobile, tablets, social. Publishing companies have had to evolve their business models to keep up."

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Tens of thousands in Spain anti-austerity protest

MADRID — Tens of thousands of demonstrators marched in dozens of Spanish cities on Sunday to protest sky-high unemployment, what they say is the government*s inefficient handling of the economy and corruption scandals.

Many protesters carried placards critical of Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's ruling Popular Party, which is immersed in a corruption investigation centered on former treasurer Luis Barcenas and alleged under-the-table payments to party officials while in opposition.

King Juan Carlos' son-in-law, Inaki Urdangarin, is also under investigation on suspicion of having embezzled several million dollars.

Rallies were organized in Madrid and 60 other cities by 150 organizations including trade unions representing the construction, car and television industries as well as police and health services.

Police estimated some 20,000 people marched in the northeastern port city of Barcelona, but authorities did not have figures for a large rally held in Madrid.

Unemployed protester Javier Alonso, 55, said the government's labor reform policies were destroying employment while not easing the country's slide into recession.

"All they have achieved is to give employers greater facilities to fire workers and us 50-year-olds have been rewarded with cheap dismissals which have simply dumped us on the streets," Alonso said.

Spain's unemployment rate is at a staggering 26 percent and the economy is immersed in its second recession in three years, with many young graduates and qualified professionals emigrating to find jobs elsewhere.

Health care worker Isabel Montanes said she was protesting because the cuts were badly affecting those worst off in Spain's society.

"They want to cut what most sustains a country, which is education and health care," she said.

"The unemployment rate is so immense that young people believe they have no future here, and we are embittering their existence," Montanes said.

General Workers Union spokesman Candido Mendez said it was clear most people rejected the government's austerity policies, which he said were pushing many toward poverty and away from democracy.

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