EU officials seek more private investment in jobs

DUBLIN — With many of the European Union's economies mired in stagnation, EU officials are seeking to emulate part of the U.S. model for creating growth and jobs by fostering more private investment in businesses.

Irish Finance Minister Michael Noonan said Saturday that in the United States banks account for only 25 percent of external financing for businesses. In Europe, he said, the proportion is the opposite — 70 to 75 percent of business financing comes from banks. He spoke at the conclusion of a two-day meeting of EU finance ministers in Dublin.

"There was a shared view that we must begin to take tangible action to assist in developing a more balanced financial system in which banks, institutional investors and public authorities all play a role in supporting long-term investment in growth and jobs," Noonan said.

This is important, he said, as many small and medium-sized businesses in the EU lack access to capital. Because Ireland currently holds the EU's rotating six-month presidency, Noonan chaired the meeting.

In January, unemployment across the 17 EU countries that use the euro hit a record 11.9 percent, with nearly 19 million people out of work. The unemployment rate for young people was 24.2 percent. And the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, predicts the unemployment rate will rise further this year.

The finance ministers also agreed to push for completion of a banking union that would create a single set of rules for banks in the union, a single supervisory mechanism and uniform procedures for winding down banks that fail. And they renewed their pledge to work together to fight tax evasion — a practice they said many people found particularly galling at a time when government cutbacks and tax increases are wreaking havoc with their personal finances.

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Don Melvin can be reached at https://twitter.com/Don_Melvin

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Adjunct faculty to discuss forming union in Boston

BOSTON — Adjunct faculty members from across the Boston area are planning to meet to discuss the possibility of forming a union.

Adjunct faculty are hired on a temporary basis and typically do not have the benefits of tenured faculty or those on a track to become tenured.

They argue that they're playing an increasingly important role at universities despite facing low pay, few benefits and a lack of institutional support for research projects.

They are planning to hold a symposium to discuss forming a union Saturday at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston.

The symposium is being organized with the Service Employees International Union.

The union says it's already home to 15,000 unionized adjunct faculty members who have won improvements in pay, job security and access to retirement benefits.

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Medicare increase could ding some in middle class

WASHINGTON — Retired city worker Sheila Pugach lives in a modest home on a quiet street in Albuquerque, N.M., and drives an 18-year-old Subaru.

Pugach doesn't see herself as upper-income by any stretch, but President Barack Obama's budget would raise her Medicare premiums and those of other comfortably retired seniors, adding to a surcharge that already costs some 2 million beneficiaries hundreds of dollars a year each.

Due to the creeping effects of inflation, 20 million Medicare beneficiaries also would end up paying higher "income related" premiums for their outpatient and prescription coverage over time.

Obama administration officials say Obama's proposal will help improve the financial stability of Medicare by reducing taxpayer subsidies for retirees who can afford to pay a bigger share of costs. Congressional Republicans agree with the president on this one, making it highly likely the idea will become law if there's a budget deal this year.

But the way Pugach sees it, she's being penalized for prudence, dinged for saving diligently.

It was the government, she says, that pushed her into a higher income bracket where she'd have to pay additional Medicare premiums.

IRS rules require people age 70-and-a-half and older to make regular minimum withdrawals from tax-deferred retirement nest eggs like 401(k)s. That was enough to nudge her over Medicare's line.

"We were good soldiers when we were young," said Pugach, who worked as a computer systems analyst. "I was afraid of not having money for retirement and I put in as much as I could. The consequence is now I have to pay about $500 a year more in Medicare premiums."

Currently only about 1 in 20 Medicare beneficiaries pays the higher income-based premiums, which start at incomes over $85,000 for individuals and $170,000 for couples. As a reference point, the median or midpoint U.S. household income is about $53,000.

Obama's budget would change Medicare's upper-income premiums in several ways. First, it would raise the monthly amounts for those currently paying.

If the proposal already were law, Pugach would be paying about $168 a month for outpatient coverage under Medicare's Part B, instead of $146.90.

Then, the plan would create five new income brackets to squeeze more revenue from the top tiers of retirees.

But its biggest impact would come through inflation.

The administration is proposing to extend a freeze on the income brackets at which seniors are liable for the higher premiums until 1 in 4 retirees has to pay. It wouldn't be the top 5 percent anymore, but the top 25 percent.

"Over time, the higher premiums will affect people who by today's standards are considered middle-income," explained Tricia Neuman, vice president for Medicare policy at the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation. "At some point, it raises questions about whether (Medicare) premiums will continue to be affordable."

Required withdrawals from retirement accounts would be the trigger for some of these retirees. For others it could be taking a part-time job.

One consequence could be political problems for Medicare. A growing group of beneficiaries might come together around a shared a sense of grievance.

"That's part of the problem with the premiums — they simply act like a higher tax based on income," said David Certner, federal policy director for AARP, the seniors lobby.

"Means testing" of Medicare benefits was introduced in 2007 under President George W. Bush in the form of higher outpatient premiums for the top-earning retirees. Obama's health care law expanded the policy and also added a surcharge for prescription coverage.

The latest proposal ramps up the reach of means testing and sets up a political confrontation between AARP and liberal groups on one side and fiscal conservatives on the other. The liberals long have argued that support for Medicare will be undermined if the program starts charging more for the well-to-do. Not only are higher-income people more likely to be politically active, but they also tend to be in better health.

Fiscal conservatives say it makes no sense for government to provide the same generous subsidies to people who can afford to pay at least some of the cost themselves. As a rule, taxpayers pay for 75 percent of Medicare's outpatient and prescription benefits. Even millionaires would still get a 10 percent subsidy on their premiums under Obama's plan. Technically, both programs are voluntary.

"The government has to understand the difference between universal opportunity and universal subsidy," said David Walker, the former head of the congressional Government Accountability Office. "This is a very modest step toward changing the government subsidy associated with Medicare's two voluntary programs."

It still doesn't sit well with Pugach. She says she's been postponing remodeling work on her 58-year-old house because she's concerned about the cost. Having a convenient utility room so she doesn't have to go out to the garage to do laundry would help with her back problems.

"They think all old people are living the life of Riley," she said.

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Ex-AP writer McArthur, who covered Vietnam, dies

Born in the Deep South and caught up in the romance of journalism at an early age, George McArthur was not one to let social taboos or politics interfere with a good story.

As a campus reporter for the local newspaper, covering civil rights and racial tensions at the University of Georgia, he was called a "communist" by the state's segregationist governor, Herman Talmadge. McArthur replied, with typical sarcasm, that he felt honored.

Later, while reporting for The Associated Press from Seoul during the Korean War, and from the Arab world and Indochina, McArthur cultivated Soviet and other communist-state reporters as friends, and the trust paid off with exclusive bits of inside information from the ongoing peace talks at Panmunjom.

In one case, McArthur recalled recently, his source made the deal in exchange for a box of condoms from the PX.

For nearly three decades, McArthur was the quintessential foreign correspondent as he reported from the boulevards of Paris to the sands of the Middle East and jungles of Vietnam, for the AP and later the Los Angeles Times. He died Friday night at age 88 in a hospice in Fairfax County, Va., of complications from a stroke 17 days earlier, his wife, Eva Kim McArthur, said.

When Australian journalist Wilfred Burchett, an avowed communist, hosted American anti-war advocate Tom Hayden at his home in Cambodia, his friend McArthur was the only western reporter invited to their news conference.

"As I left," McArthur recalled years later, other reporters were standing outside, asking: "'What did he say? What did he say?' I went past them and headed for the phone."

Born July 15, 1924, in Valdosta, Ga., George A. McArthur III said he was first inspired to become a foreign correspondent at age 9, when he read a book by Richard Harding Davis, a famous globe-trotting reporter in the early 20th century.

At age 20 in October 1944, McArthur served aboard the Navy hospital ship USS Bountiful, witnessing from a distance the World War II Battle of Leyte Gulf in the Philippines.

While the Japanese military was notorious during World War II for mistreatment of enemy prisoners and otherwise ignoring the rules of war, he said the mercy ship — operating alone, and painted white with large red crosses illuminated at night to mark its non-combat status — was never attacked or threatened by the Imperial Navy.

"In our case, the Japanese respected the laws of war and left us alone," he said.

After the war, McArthur attended the University of Georgia while working for a local newspaper. He was hired by the AP in Atlanta in 1949 to cover sports and write radio news copy — a typical start for a wire service career path that could lead anywhere.

In his case, that was Korea. In 1951, McArthur was one of several youthful AP staffers who volunteered to replace the aging ex-World War II retreads first dispatched to Seoul after communist North Korea's invasion of South Korea in July, 1950.

It was a new experience for McArthur and his colleagues, who were dubbed the "boy correspondents." But he recalled the remark of a veteran United Press reporter, Bob Vermillion, that "if you can't cover war, you can't cover anything."

Rewarded after Korea with a choice of AP assignments, McArthur opted for Paris, where he spent six years, then moved to Cairo as AP's bureau chief, living in a houseboat on the Nile. In 1963, he moved from there to Manila, Philippines, again as bureau chief.

McArthur polished an elegant writing style in those years that he said was patterned after that of his boyhood hero Davis, and lived the life of a foreign correspondent and bon vivant, a heady, Hemingway-esque mix of glamor, drama and danger.

Sent to cover a Paris news conference by visiting U.S. Vice President Lyndon Johnson, McArthur took along a comely French girlfriend named Domino. "LBJ immediately spotted her, pumped her hand and rattled on for about 60 seconds before realizing she didn't speak a word of English," McArthur recalled in a 2005 interview. "Afterward, Domino asked, 'Who was that man?'"

He later survived a tense moment in Sudan when a street demonstration flared out of control. McArthur said he fled to the U.S. embassy, scrambling under the front security gate seconds before it slammed down.

In 1964, McArthur began making reporting trips from Manila to Vietnam and a year later joined the AP Saigon staff full-time. He was named bureau chief in 1968, and in late 1969 he left the AP to join the Los Angeles Times, continuing to cover the Vietnam war.

He also met, and later married, Eva Kim, a diplomatic secretary to U.S. ambassador Ellsworth Bunker and his successor, Graham Martin.

When Saigon fell to invading North Vietnamese troops on April 30, 1975, Martin and key aides were on one of the last Marine helicopters to leave the U.S. embassy roof. Martin carried the embassy's folded flag; McArthur, accompanying his wife Eva, carried the ambassador's tiny terrier, Nit Noy, on his lap, having saved it from being left behind.

In later years, McArthur and his wife lived in Washington and northern Virginia.

In a 2005 interview, McArthur said his career had been more rewarding than he could have imagined as a small town boy in south Georgia.

Going on home leave from Paris, he crossed the Atlantic on the ocean liner United States, and was invited to dine at the captain's table.

"Nobody from Valdosta, Ga., dresses for dinner or eats at the captain's table," he said in the interview.

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Pyle, a former Saigon bureau chief for The Associated Press, reported from New York.

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Federal budget cuts poised to hit Mass. unemployed

BOSTON — Tens of thousands of Massachusetts residents who are out of a job and collecting unemployment benefits for more than 26 weeks will see their federal unemployment insurance assistance cut by nearly 13 percent as the automatic federal budget cuts bite deeper into the economy.

The Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance announced Saturday that it is notifying residents who receive federal Emergency Unemployment Compensation that their benefits will be cut beginning the week ending May 4.

The Emergency Unemployment Compensation program benefits workers who had exhausted their state benefits.

The cuts will hit about 45,000 Massachusetts residents who currently receive the benefits. Each beneficiary receives an average of $402 a week, but those payments will be trimmed to about $351.

The U.S. Department of Labor mandated the cuts under a federal law that requires across-the-board cuts to all discretionary federal programs.

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The Ticker

Pfizer shifts workers to Kendall Square

Drug maker Pfizer Inc. will relocate a majority of its 530 Cambridge North workers from Alewife to Kendall Square. The company will also sell or sub-lease its buildings at 87, 200, and 35 CambridgePark Drive, and 620 Memorial Drive.

The employee shift is expected to occur early next year, but the company said it expects there will be minimal impact to the size of Pfizer's workforce in Massachusetts.

Syros takes off with $30M

Syros Pharmaceuticals, a Watertown-based company that harnesses breakthroughs in gene control for the treatment of cancer and other diseases, launched yesterday with a $30 million first round of funding.

The company was co-founded by ARCH Venture Partners and Flagship Ventures. Syros said it will use the capital to speed up the discovery and development of novel gene control medicines.

Bright Horizons acquires UK co.

Bright Horizons of Watertown has acquired kidsunlimited, a company that operates dozens of nurseries throughout England and Scotland, for more than $69 million in cash. The transaction is expected to be neutral to Bright Horizon's earnings for the rest of the year.

Murray touts transportation

Senate President Therese Murray said yesterday a $805 million transportation financing bill might grab Gov. Deval Patrick's attention as both sides have not formally met to discuss the issue in more than three weeks. Murray also chided the governor, whose own $1.9 billion plan remains stalled, for language that criticized the Legislature's proposal.

Houghton acquires Montreal co.

Boston-based Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has acquired educational technology company Tribal Nova of Montreal, Canada, for an undisclosed amount. Tribal Nova is focused on the development of digital games, products and services for preschoolers.

Microsoft to make waves in Natick

A new Microsoft retail store will open at the Natick Mall on June 8. Hit alternative rock band Weezer is expected to perform a concert to celebrate the grand opening.

TODAY

• The Specialty Coffee Association of America 2013 annual exposition is held at the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center.

THE SHUFFLE 

• Dean College has promoted Dr. Dawn Poirier, left, to dean of the School of Liberal Arts, effective June 1. A member of the Dean College faculty for 14 years, Poirier most recently served as Dean's department chairman for math, science and sport fitness studies.

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Condos on the rise in Danvers

The Massachusetts condo market is finally warming up.

After several years of slow growth, developers are building again and potential owners are buying from floor plans.

Just a few years ago, real estate developers were converting their condo buildings into rentals because of the downturn in the housing market.

In February 2012, Tina Pizzuti Brzezenski, a partner with Pizzuti Development, had a permitted site in Danvers to build residential apartments.

Brzezenski, a real estate veteran with more than 20 years of experience, was continually monitoring the market and started to notice several industry forecasts that showed stabilizing rents and modest increases in vacancy rates.

"This is typically a trend that starts in the suburbs first, which may be indicative of supply catching up with demand," Brzezenski said.

Brzezenski also knew that inventory levels for homes on the market were dropping and Danvers hadn't seen any new construction of condo development in years.

Currently, there are 40 condos listed for sale in Danvers, 25 percent of them have active offers and 16 condos are presently under contract, according to MLS PIN. It's a far cry from the past few years when there would typically be between 66 and 72 condos on the market in Danvers.

With support from her bank to move forward on a condo project instead of rental development, Brzezenski went back to the town and got the development approved for condos. The result, located on Andover Street in Danvers where the old Natalie's Restaurant used to stand, will be the Residences at Rose Court.

Named after the rose garden that will be featured in the middle of the two residential buildings with elevators, the complex will consist of 71 units, all with individual balconies.

The one-, two- and three-bedroom units, between 1,065 square feet and 1,588 square feet, will be priced from $240,000 to $400,000. Each condo unit will have two parking spaces and indoor parking spaces will be available separately for purchase, at $7,500 to $9,500.

The residences will also have a state-of-the-art fitness center located in Building Two, complete with cardio machines, weight training equipment and a floor exercise area. There is a function room in the main clubhouse that residents can reserve for parties or events.

"In addition, there will also be a community garden where the residents can grow their own flowers, herbs or vegetables as well as a separate playground area," Brzezenski said.

Building Two will be the first to open, likely by Oct. 1, and the other building is expected to be complete by January.

Sales for the units begin tomorrow. There will be an on-site sales office located in the clubhouse with the model of the units' interior.

Interior features will include granite countertops, stainless steel appliances and in-unit washer and dryers. There will also be high-efficiency heating and cooling systems. Owners will be able to customize some unit features.

Jennifer Athas is a licensed real estate broker. Follow her on Twitter @jenathas

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UMass Medical nurses authorize strike

WORCESTER, Mass. — Nurses at UMass Memorial Medical Center in Worcester have authorized union leaders to schedule a one-day strike.

The Massachusetts Nurses Association says 83 percent of the system's more than 2,000 nurses voted in favor of the measure during a secret ballot on Thursday. The result gives union leadership approval to call a strike at a future date if they feel it's necessary.

The nurses are in the midst of contract negotiations over staffing levels and benefits. Negotiations have been going on for longer than a year.

The nurses contend layoffs over the past two years put patient care in jeopardy.

Hospital management says it was "disappointed" in the vote results.

Management says it is committed to maintaining appropriate staffing levels, and it disagrees with the union's mandatory staffing ratio proposal.

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Starbucks cuts suggested price of bagged coffee

NEW YORK — Starbucks is cutting the suggested retail price of its bagged coffee sold in supermarkets, following similar moves by competitors amid falling commodity costs.

The Seattle-based chain says 12-ounce bags of its whole and ground coffee will be $8.99, down from $9.99. The list price of its Seattle's Best coffee will also be slashed to $6.99 a bag, from $7.99. The new prices go into effect May 10.

The list price is just a suggestion and retailers are free to charge their own prices, however, so customers may not see a change. But retailers will pay a lower price, giving them more wiggle room to pass on the savings to shoppers.

The move does not affect the price of Starbucks coffee in its cafes.

In February, J.M. Smucker Co. also lowered the price for most of its Folgers and Dunkin' Donuts packaged coffee sold in the U.S. by an average of 6 percent.

The cut by Starbucks Corp. also reflects the company's ongoing push to accelerate growth in its packaged goods business.

Starting next month, the company is also letting people earn points on its loyalty program from buying its bagged coffee.

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JPMorgan CEO: 'Work to do' on controls, compliance

NEW YORK — JPMorgan Chase, the country's biggest bank by assets, says its first-quarter earnings soared, even as revenue fell slightly.

The bank made $6.1 billion in the first quarter, after stripping out payments to preferred shareholders. That was up 34 percent from the same period a year ago, when it made $4.6 billion.

On a per-share basis, that amounted to $1.59. That blew away the estimates of analysts polled by FactSet, who had been expecting $1.39.

Revenue and profit fell in its retail banking business, but increased in investment banking. JPMorgan funded $53 billion in mortgages, a jump of 37 percent from a year ago. But profits in the mortgage unit fell 31 percent, and the bank said profit margins were lower.

Revenue was $25.8 billion, after stripping out the effect of an accounting charge. That beat analysts' estimates of $25.7 billion, though it was down 3 percent from the same period a year ago.

In many respects, it's been a difficult year for the New York-based bank. A surprise trading loss, which the bank acknowledged about a year ago, has been haunting it, resulting in management shake-ups, increased scrutiny from regulators, scoldings from Congress and a big pay cut for CEO Jamie Dimon.

In a statement, Dimon said the bank has "work to do" to strengthen internal controls and make sure it is in compliance with regulations. He called it the new "top priority" for the bank.

"There is no room for compromise in meeting our obligations to comply with the new regulatory requirements and ensure that our systems, practices, controls, technology and, above all, culture meet the highest standards," he said.

Last month, the Federal Reserve asked the bank to resubmit its capital plan by the end of September, to address the Fed's concerns about unspecified weaknesses. JPMorgan said Friday it is "dramatically increasing the resources deployed" to address the Fed's concerns, and said it "intends to fully address" the Fed's requirements.

Dimon also said he was "very pleased" with the first-quarter results, and painted a picture of an improving economy. He said that consumers are "healthier and more confident," noting that bank reduced the amount it set aside to cover bad loans in its retail banking business. He said the bank was seeing signs of a healing economy, including improved housing prices.

One exception Dimon noted, however, was loan demand. Total loans slipped about 4 percent compared to a year ago, a trend likely to be repeated when the other big banks report their earnings.

"Small businesses remain cautious about the recovery and fiscal uncertainty, and are not investing their capital," Dimon said, though he added that the businesses were "well positioned to invest in growth once they decide to."

JPMorgan's stock was down 12 cents at $49.19 in early trading.

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Takeover of Weymouth hospital moves forward

BOSTON — The state Public Health Council has voted to grant a license to transfer ownership of South Shore Hospital in Weymouth to Partners HealthCare System.

Council members, on a 9-to-1 vote with one abstention, approved a "determination of need" certificate under which Boston-based Partners, the state's largest hospital and physicians' organization, would become sole corporate owner of the 378-bed regional hospital.

The vote was the first step in an ongoing regulatory process.

The Boston Globe (http://b.globe.com/10VE2gs ) reports that takeover critics questioned whether Wednesday's vote would trump federal and state agencies' scrutiny of the deal. The U.S. Justice Department examines antitrust implications of proposed acquisitions.

Partners, which owns Massachusetts General and Brigham and Women's hospitals in Boston along with seven other hospitals, is cooperating with the Justice Department inquiry.

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Information from: The Boston Globe, http://www.boston.com/globe

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Senate president: Mass needs to debate living wage

BOSTON — Massachusetts needs to have a conversation about what constitutes a living wage, Senate President Therese Murray told business leaders Thursday.

In a breakfast speech to the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, the Plymouth Democrat noted that lawmakers in Maine recently approved a bill that would raise the state's minimum wage to $9 per hour by 2016, adjusting it annually for inflation after that. The bill has yet to be signed into law.

In Massachusetts, the minimum wage has been $8 per hour since 2008 and isn't automatically adjusted to inflation.

Murray also pointed to New York, which recently agreed to raise its minimum wage to $9 over the next three years, without tying future increases to inflation. Other cities have passed their own citywide minimum wages that are indexed to inflation, she said.

"By identifying what a living wage is in Massachusetts, we can have a positive impact on families, and especially single parents who are trying to improve the lives of their children," Murray said.

In the speech, Murray also said it's time to take another look at the state's welfare system.

She added the system as it stands now discourages recipients from pursuing independence and includes loopholes "that continue to serve as incentives for individuals to stay on welfare instead of working."

Murray said the Department of Transitional Assistance should shift its focus to training, education, and job placement for welfare recipients while providing "additional assistance to any high-risk recipients in the welfare system, such as teen parents, through trained specialists who can provide a more focused intervention."

The Senate President, citing a federal report showing that nearly 60 percent of Massachusetts residents living paycheck to paycheck, said Gov. Deval Patrick's proposal to raise the income tax to 6.25 percent would only make it harder for low- and middle-income people to make ends meet.

During a recent visit to the Springfield YMCA, Murray said some mothers told her that it was easier for them to stay on welfare than go to work, because a job would often pay less than welfare benefits.

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Associated Press writer Steve LeBlanc contributed to this report.

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Senate President Murray touts Legislature's transportation plan

A $500 million legislative transportation financing bill that has cleared the House, but is now under Senate scrutiny will better establish benchmarks for revenue, savings and reforms for both the state Department of Transportation and MBTA compared to Gov. Deval Patrick's $1.9 billion proposal, Senate President Therese Murray said today.

Murray, addressing the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, added the Legislature's plan requires MassDOT to stop paying workers with borrowed money by shifting employees from the capital program over a span of three years, a change poised to free up $233 million in capital spending capabilities for the agency.

"(The bill) is not a blank check for the Department of Transportation or MBTA," Murray said. "Instead, it holds the two agencies accountable for delivering savings or revenue and working toward contributing the same share of their budget that they are doing now."

The proposal, backed by Murray and House Speaker Robert DeLeo, also closes the operating gap in the state's aging transportation system over a five-year period, she said, adding the Senate bill redirects the current 2.5 cents per gallon charged at the pump for underground storage tanks to transportation, starting in Fiscal Year 2015.

The bill also requires MassDOT to enter into agreements with occupants of their rights-of-way that will provide at least $40 million annually, starting in Fiscal Year 2016, Murray said.

Patrick's plan, which has failed to win the backing of business leaders, raises the state income tax and lowers the sales tax, while also eliminating 44 tax exemptions "that will have deep and biting effects on people in every community across the Commonwealth," Murray said.

"There is a growing disconnect between state government and the people," she said. "We need to focus on regaining the trust of the people of Massachusetts by showing them how their money is being spent and that each dollar is going as far as it can."

Murray added that reforms outlined in major transportation legislation passed in 2009, including a reworking of the Capital Project Information System, need to be implemented to ensure the future success of the state's transportation system. Murray also cited recent payroll tax increases and federal budget cuts as reasons why the Legislature's bill would make sure middle-class families statewide weren't hit harder economically.

"We need to be talking about what transportation projects and policies will help advance the Commonwealth's economic development today, tomorrow and every year," she said. "It's important for this discussion to start now since we know that our transportation system will have more revenue."

While she lauded several state accomplishments, including a lower unemployment rate than the national average and a robust manufacturing industry, Murray also pushed for reformation of the state's welfare system and a "serious conversation" about what a living wage is for residents living in the Commonwealth.

Citing Maine and New York as examples of states that have adopted statewide wage increases, Murray said an adult earning minimum wage in Massachusetts earns $16,704 annually, compared to the federal poverty level of $19,090.

"By identifying what a living wage is in Massachusetts, we can have a positive impact on families,

and especially single parents who are trying to improve the lives of their children," she said. "We will support our growing economy, give our residents more to spend and this change will serve as a big step forward in helping our residents lead successful and self-sustaining lives in the Commonwealth."

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Facebook's Zuckerberg launches political group

NEW YORK — Teaming up with other Silicon Valley leaders, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg has formally launched a political group aimed at revamping immigration policy, boosting education and encouraging investment in scientific research.

Zuckerberg announced the formation of Fwd.us (pronounced "forward us") in an op-ed article in The Washington Post late Wednesday. In it, he said the U.S. needs a new approach to these issues if it is to get ahead economically. This, he wrote, includes offering talented, skilled immigrants a path to citizenship.

"We have a strange immigration policy for a nation of immigrants," Zuckerberg wrote. "And it's a policy unfit for today's world."

The move comes as a bipartisan Senate group is expected to roll out on a comprehensive immigration bill in the coming days. Zuckerberg's goal echoes the proposed legislation. He said he wants "comprehensive immigration reform that begins with effective border security, allows a path to citizenship and lets us attract the most talented and hardest-working people, no matter where they were born."

Zuckerberg also calls for higher standards and accountability in schools and increased focus on learning about science, technology, engineering and math. Today's knowledge and ideas-based economy, the 28-year-old Harvard dropout wrote, is very different from the economy of the 20th century that was based on natural resources, industrial machines and labor.

Fwd.us, he said, was created to "to build the knowledge economy the United States needs to ensure more jobs, innovation and investment."

Also backing the group are tech leaders such as LinkedIn Corp. CEO Reid Hoffman, venture capitalists John Doerr and Jim Breyer, as well as Ruchi Sanghvi of Dropbox, who was Facebook Inc.'s first female engineer. Joe Green, founder of Causes.com, a social network for community organizing, serves as the group's president and founder.

Major contributors include Google Inc. chairman Eric Schmidt, Netflix Inc. CEO Reed Hastings, Yahoo Inc. CEO Marissa Mayer, SpaceX and Tesla Motors CEO Elon Musk, Zynga Inc. CEO Mark Pincus and former Groupon Inc. CEO Andrew Mason.

The formation of Zuckerberg's group was reported by The Associated Press and other outlets last month.

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Associated Press writer Erica Werner contributed to this story from Washington.

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Online:

Zuckerberg's op-ed: http://wapo.st/16SYUXs

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US unemployment aid applications plummet to 346K

WASHINGTON — The number of Americans seeking unemployment benefits fell sharply last week to a seasonally adjusted 346,000, signaling that the job market might be stronger than March's weak month of hiring suggested.

Applications for unemployment aid dropped 42,000 last week, the Labor Department said Thursday. The decline nearly reversed an increase over the previous three weeks. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, rose 3,000 to 358,000.

The number of unemployment applications has been volatile in the past two weeks largely because of the Easter holiday, a department spokesman said. The timing of the holiday changes from year to year. That makes it hard to adjust for school holidays and other changes that can cause temporary layoffs.

Applications had risen two weeks ago to 388,000, the highest level in four months. That spike "appears to have been a false alarm," Jim O'Sullivan, chief U.S. economist at High Frequency Economics, said in a note to clients.

"The report should assuage some of the concerns raised by last week's weaker-than-expected data, particularly payrolls."

Employers added only 88,000 jobs in March, the government said last week. That followed four months in which job growth averaged 220,000. Last week's drop in applications for unemployment aid could signal that hiring is picking up in April. O'Sullivan noted that the average is near its level for the first three months of the year, when job gains averaged 168,000 a month.

In March, the unemployment rate fell to a four-year low of 7.6 percent last month, down from 7.7 percent. But the rate fell only because more people stopped looking for work and were no longer counted as unemployed.

Applications are a proxy for layoffs. The decline in applications signals that companies are laying off fewer workers.

Nearly 5.28 million people were receiving unemployment aid in the week that ended March 23, the latest period for which figures are available. That's about 10,000 fewer than in the previous week.

Still, layoffs are only half the equation. Businesses also need to be confident enough in the economic outlook to add more jobs.

Companies are posting more open positions but have been slow to fill them. Their reluctance to hire suggests that they are still cautious about the economy.

The Labor Department reported earlier this week that companies advertised about 11 percent more job openings in February than in the same month a year earlier. But the number of people hired each month declined over that time.

Employment experts and staffing firms say many businesses have become highly selective and appear to be waiting for perfect candidates.

Much of the increase in net job gains earlier this year was a result of declining layoffs. Job cuts fell in January to the lowest level in the 12 years that the government has tracked the data.

Economists think economic growth accelerated in the January-March quarter to an annual rate of 3 percent. That would be a vast improvement over the annual rate of 0.4 percent in the October-December, which was held back by steep defense cuts and slower restocking by companies.

One concern is that across-the-board government spending cuts that began on March 1 will shave a half-percentage point from growth this year. That may have also made businesses cautious about hiring last month.

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Alberta premier: Rejection would mar relations

TORONTO — Alberta's premier says if the Obama administration rejects the Keystone XL pipeline it be would be a significant thorn in Canadian-U.S. relations.

Premier Alison Redford said in a telephone interview with The Associated Press that the issue would keep coming up. Redford is in Washington for her fourth trip to lobby on behalf of a pipeline that Canada sees as critical to its economic well-being.

Alberta has the world's third-largest reserves of oil. The proposed pipeline would carry oil from the Alberta oil sands to Texas Gulf Coast refineries.

The Obama administration is considering whether to clear the project. A decision is expected this summer.

Obama's initial rejection of the pipeline last year went over badly in Canada, which relies on the U.S. for 97 percent of its energy exports.

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Blacks still face challenges in economic equality

WASHINGTON — The National Urban League says African-Americans are making tremendous gains in education, but have seen little change in economic equality in the last 50 years.

In its annual State of Black America report, the civil rights group said unemployment remains the biggest barrier. The report was released Wednesday during the Urban League's annual legislative conference in Washington.

According to the report, only 15 percent of black adults today did not complete a high school education, compared with 75 percent of black adults 50 years ago. At the college level, there are now 3.5 times more blacks aged 18-24 enrolled, and five times as many black adults who hold a college degree.

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Dutch recall 50,000 tons of meat across Europe

THE HAGUE, Netherlands — Dutch authorities are recalling 50,000 tons of meat sold as beef across Europe because its exact source cannot be established and it may contain horse meat, a spokeswoman said Wednesday.

The announcement was the latest development in a far-reaching scandal that saw horse meat mixed in with other meats and sold as beef across the continent without informing consumers. The scandal led to recalls of products ranging from frozen lasagna to Ikea's Swedish meatballs.

In all, 370 different companies around Europe and 132 more in the Netherlands are affected by the latest recall because they bought meat from two Dutch trading companies, said Esther Filon of the Netherlands Food and Consumer Product Safety Authority.

The food authority said in a statement that because the exact source of the meat cannot be traced "its safety cannot be guaranteed." The statement added that Dutch authorities have "no concrete indications that there is a risk to public health."

Filon said the recall covers meat dating back to Jan. 1, 2011, up until Feb. 15 this year, when the companies at the heart of the recall were placed under heightened scrutiny and faced criminal investigations.

She conceded that — because the recall dates back more than two years — some of the meat "may already have been consumed." Filon said authorities are bound by law to recall the meat if it is unclear where exactly it came from.

"If meat has an unclear source then the law — the general food law — says it is no longer fit for human or animal food," she told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

Dutch authorities began a large-scale investigation into the country's meat industry in February after the horse meat scandal broke across Europe.

The authority named two companies with the same owner as the source of the meat covered by Wednesday's recall: Wiljo Import en Export B.V. and Vleesgroothandel Willy Selten B.V.

Calls to Willy Selten went unanswered Wednesday.

It was not immediately clear how much of the meat is likely to be tracked down. Dutch authorities say they have no plans to test all the meat. The recall covers countries including France, Germany and Spain and the nations involved are responsible for managing it.

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Nobel prizewinner, IVF pioneer Robert Edwards dead

LONDON — Robert Edwards, a Nobel prizewinner from Britain whose pioneering in vitro fertilization research led to the first test tube baby and has since brought millions of people into the world, died Wednesday at age 87.

The University of Cambridge, where he was a professor, said Edwards passed away peacefully in his sleep at his home just outside Cambridge.

Together with Dr. Patrick Steptoe, Edwards developed in vitro fertilization, or IVF, which resulted in the birth in 1978 of the world's first test tube baby, Louise Brown. At the time, the two were accused of playing God and interfering with nature.

Since then, more than 4 million babies have been born using the technique, which creates embryos in the laboratory before transferring them into a woman.

"(Edwards) was an extraordinary scientist," said Dr. Peter Braude, emeritus professor of obstetrics and gynecology at Kings College London, who was at Cambridge when Edwards and Steptoe were developing IVF.

"There was such hysteria around the kind of work he was doing," Braude said, noting that Edwards stopped his research for two years after he published details on how he had created embryos in the laboratory. "He wanted to work out what the right thing to do was, whether he should continue or whether he was out on a limb," Braude said.

Braude said that Edwards collected donor eggs from Oldham, where Steptoe worked. Edwards then put them into test tubes which he strapped to his legs to keep them warm before catching the train to Cambridge, where he would attempt to fertilize them in the laboratory.

After Brown was born, Braude recalled a celebration at Cambridge, where scientists toasted Edwards and Steptoe's achievement by drinking champagne out of plastic cups.

Braude said public opinion has evolved considerably since then.

"I think people now understand that (Edwards) only had the best motivation," he said. "There are few biologists that have done something so practical and made a huge difference for the entire world."

In 2010, Edwards was awarded the Nobel prize in medicine for the development of IVF. Steptoe had already passed away; the Nobel prizes are not awarded posthumously. The Roman Catholic Church denounced the award, arguing that human life should only begin through intercourse and not artificially. The Vatican said Edwards "bore a moral responsibility for all subsequent developments in assisted reproduction technology and for all abuses made possible by IVF."

In 2011, Edwards was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II "for services to human reproductive biology."

Other scientists called Edwards a visionary who forever changed the lives of people helped by IVF and the medical community.

"(Edwards') inspirational work in the early 60s led to a breakthrough that has enhanced the lives of millions of people worldwide," said Mike Macnamee, chief executive of the IVF clinic that Edwards and Steptoe co-founded, in a statement. "It was a privilege to work with him and his passing is a great loss to us all."

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Taylor Morrison rises in 1st day as public company

NEW YORK — Shares of Taylor Morrison Home Corp. are rising in its debut as a publicly traded company. The homebuilder's entry on the New York Stock Exchange comes on the same day that another homebuilder filed for an initial public offering, further proof that companies are riding the continued housing recovery back to the public markets.

Taylor Morrison's stock gained $1.27, or 5.8 percent, to $23.27 Wednesday morning. The initial public offering of 23.8 million shares was priced at $22 each, the high end of its expected range.

The company's IPO follows homebuilder TRI Pointe Homes Inc. in January, real estate investor Silver Bay Realty Trust Corp. in December and real estate services provider Realogy Holdings Inc. in October.

And on Wednesday William Lyon Homes said in a regulatory filing that it plans to raise up to $200 million from a proposed IPO. It did not disclose how many shares would be in the offering, or what the expected price range would be.

Recent data has shown a strengthening housing market. Job gains and mortgage rates near record lows have helped lift home sales, more than six years after the housing market began to collapse.

Taylor Morrison's offering raised $523.6 million. The banks managing the deal may buy more 3.6 million shares, adding to the proceeds. The company said in a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that after the IPO it plans to sell up to $500 million in debt for general corporate purposes.

The Scottsdale, Ariz., company operates its namesake brand and Darling Homes in the U.S. and Monarch in Canada. It booked $1.44 billion in revenue last year and closed on 4,014 homes. The company sells homes ranging from $120,000 to more than $1 million, targeting first- and second-time buyers.

Taylor Morrison is trading on the NYSE under the "TMHC" ticker symbol.

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Microsoft escalates advertising assault on Google

SAN FRANCISCO — Microsoft is skewering Google again with scathing ads that say as much about the dramatic shift in the technology industry's competitive landscape as they do about the animosity between the two rivals.

The missive that began Tuesday marks the third phase in a 5-month-old marketing campaign that Microsoft Corp. derisively calls "Scroogled." The ads, which have appeared online, on television and in print, depict Google as a duplicitous company more interested in increasing profits and power than protecting people's privacy and providing unbiased search results.

This time, Microsoft is vilifying Google Inc. for sharing some of the personal information that it gathers about people who buy applications designed to run on smartphones and tablet computers powered by Google's Android software. Earlier ads have skewered Google's long-running practice of electronically scanning the contents of people's Gmail accounts to help sell ads and attacked a recently introduced policy that requires retailers to pay to appear in the shopping section of Google's dominant search engine.

"We think we have a better alternative that doesn't do these kinds of nefarious things," said Greg Sullivan, Microsoft's senior manager for Windows Phone, the business taking aim at Google's distribution of personal information about buyers of Android apps.

Microsoft's advertising barbs could potentially backfire. Even as they help draw attention to Google practices that may prod some consumers to try different services, they also serve as a reminder of Microsoft's mostly futile — and costly — attempts to trump its rival with more compelling technology.

"It's always the underdog that does negative advertising like this, and there is no doubt that Microsoft is now the underdog," said Jonathan Weber, who has been following Microsoft's "Scroogled" campaign at search consulting firm LunaMetrics.

On the flip side, Google has evolved from an endearing Internet startup to an imposing giant running Web and mobile services that vacuum intimate details about people's lives. Despite repeated management assurances about respecting personal privacy, Google has experienced several lapses that have resulted in regulatory fines, settlements and scorn around the world.

Beyond privacy, Google has been the subject of complaints that its practices are anti-competitive. On Tuesday, a group of companies led by Microsoft said it has asked European authorities to investigate whether Google is acting unfairly by giving away its Android operating system to mobile device manufacturers on the condition that Google's own apps, such as YouTube and Google Maps, are installed and prominently displayed.

Microsoft's latest ads revolve around concerns already raised by privacy watchdogs. Critics argue that Google hasn't adequately disclosed that customers' names, email addresses and neighborhood locations are routinely sent to the makers of apps sold in Google's online Play store.

At least one group, Consumer Watchdog, has complained to the Federal Trade Commission that Google's apps practices represent an "egregious privacy violation." Citing agency policy, FTC spokesman Jay Mayfield declined to comment on whether the complaint has triggered a formal investigation.

Google says it shares a limited amount of personal information about customers to ensure they get better service and faster responses if any problems arise. The company says the practice is allowed under its terms of service — a document that most people rarely read in its entirety.

Microsoft says it doesn't pass along personal details about customers buying apps for devices running its Windows Phone software. But there aren't as many Windows Phone users or apps for that system as there are for Android.

The notion of Microsoft being well behind Google once seemed inconceivable.

A decade ago, Microsoft was the world's most powerful technology company, with its Windows operating system and Office productivity software pervasive on personal computers. Microsoft's dominance had grown so extensive that U.S. and European antitrust regulators spent years trying to rein in the Redmond, Wash., software company.

Although Google was growing rapidly at the time, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer and other skeptics dismissed the company as a "one-trick pony" that hadn't proven adept at doing anything besides searching the Web and selling ads next to the results.

Google, which is based in Mountain View, Calif., has since morphed into a multi-faceted juggernaut relentlessly trying to muscle into new markets. The company now runs the world's most watched online video service in YouTube, the largest email service in Gmail and the most widely used operating system for mobile devices in Android. All of those services provide more opportunities to show the ads that generate the bulk of Google's revenue. Google is now the company facing the scrutiny of regulators — and Microsoft has been active in making those complaints, including the one announced Tuesday.

"Google is certainly the biggest challenge that Microsoft has ever had to deal with," said Michael Cusumano, a professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan School of Management and author of several books about Microsoft.

Microsoft has tried to thwart Google by investing heavily in online services, to little avail. Since Google went public in August 2004, Microsoft's online division has accumulated more than $17.5 billion in operating losses. The losses include an accounting charge of more than $6 billion for Microsoft's acquisition of aQuantive, an online advertising service that didn't pan out.

Google, meanwhile, has been steadily increasing profits and share of the Internet search market. Google processes about two out of every three search requests in the U.S. and handles an even larger percentage of queries in many parts of Europe.

Although Microsoft has remained profitable companywide, the Windows franchise that provides its financial backbone has been weakening as a growing preference for smartphones and tablet computers undercuts sales of desktop and laptop computers. Besides doing damage with Android, Google is also trying to dent Microsoft by selling a less expensive, Internet-based alternative to Microsoft's Office suite. Google also is pushing a laptop operating system built on its popular Chrome Web browser in an attempt to divert even more sales away from Windows machines.

Microsoft has countered with a dramatic overhaul of the Windows operating system, one designed to bring tablet features such as touch screens to desktops and laptops. But Windows 8 has gotten off to a tepid start since its October release.

The changing fortunes of Microsoft and Google have been reflected in the stock market's appraisal of the two companies.

Google's market value has soared from nearly $25 billion at the time of its initial public offering to $255 billion. Microsoft's market value has fallen by about 20 percent during the same period, declining from nearly $300 billion at the time of Google's IPO to $239 billion today. Apple Inc., a rival of both Google and Microsoft, is the only technology company worth more than Google, with a market value hovering around $400 billion.

In morning trading Tuesday, after the latest campaign kicked off, Microsoft's stock gained 36 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $28.95, while Google's increased $6.85, or nearly 1 percent, to $781.70.

Microsoft developed its anti-Google ad campaigns shortly after hiring former political operative Mark Penn in August as a corporate strategist who reports directly to Ballmer. Penn is best known as a former pollster for President Bill Clinton and a campaign strategist for Hillary Clinton's unsuccessful bid for president in 2008. Penn left his job as CEO of public relations firm Burson-Marsteller to help Microsoft generate more usage of its Bing search engine and other online services.

Microsoft isn't saying how much it is spending on these ad campaigns beyond saying the amount will run in the "multimillions" of dollars.

Although there isn't any evidence that the ads have hurt Google yet, Sullivan said Microsoft is pleased with the response. The company says about 117,000 people have signed Microsoft's online petition protesting Gmail's ad-driving scanning of content. That's a sliver of the more than 425 million Gmail accounts worldwide. Microsoft says about 4 million people have visited Scroogled.com, the website that serves as the hub of the company's anti-Google screed.

Although the attack ads are something new for Microsoft, denigrating the competition isn't. Most notably, Microsoft tried to undermine Web browser pioneer Netscape Communications beginning in the mid-1990s. Most of that sniping remained behind the scenes until a U.S. Department of Justice investigation into Microsoft's business practices exposed the cut-throat tactics deployed to overcome Netscape's early lead in the Web browser market.

Given that history, Microsoft's marketing assault on Google isn't that surprising, said Cusumano, who has been following the company for 20 years.

"Nothing is below Microsoft," Cusumano said. "They have been playing dirty for a long time. In this instance, they probably sincerely believe this can give them a little marketing edge and help them capitalize on the growing discomfort with the size and influence of Google."

___

Online:

Microsoft campaign: http://www.scroogled.com

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Britain to share tax info with European countries

LONDON — Britain says it has struck a deal with France, Germany, Spain and Italy to share financial data and fight tax evasion.

The British government says a pilot program will be developed that allows for data to be automatically shared among the five countries. The terms of the deal were outlined in a letter to the European commission Tuesday.

David Gauke, the exchequer secretary to the Treasury, says the program seeks to set a new standard for the automatic exchange of tax information. He says it builds on agreements previously reached with the Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey as well as talks ongoing with overseas territories.

The British government has made it a priority to crack down on tax avoidance.

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Markets flatfooted as US earnings season begins

LONDON — A mixed earnings report from aluminum company Alcoa Corp. failed to provide markets with much direction Tuesday amid continuing concerns over North Korea, bird flu in China and Europe's debt crisis kept many investors on the sidelines.

Alcoa, as is traditional, kicked off the reporting season in an after-hours statement Monday with first-quarter earnings of 11 cents a share, well ahead of expectations of 8 cents. However, much of the impact in markets was negated by the news that revenues fell.

"The first company to unveil its update in a reporting season can often set the tone," said David Madden, market analyst at IG.

In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was up 0.3 percent at 6,295 while Germany's DAX fell 0.5 percent to 7,625. The CAC-40 in France was 0.3 percent lower at 3,658.

In the U.S., the Dow Jones industrial average was flat at 14,612 while the broader S&P 500 index fell 0.1 percent to 1,562.

Much of the focus in markets will remain on the U.S. corporate sector over the coming weeks as investors seek to assess the health of the world's largest economy. The flow of earnings picks up through the week with banks Wells Fargo and JPMorgan Chase due to report on Friday.

"Traders can sometimes appear a little over-reliant on the first number, setting the market up for a fall should the next readings serve to disappoint," said Mike McCudden, head of derivatives at stockbroker Interactive Investor.

Another key focus will be Japanese financial assets.

The Nikkei 225 index in Tokyo has posted strong gains over the past week as the Bank of Japan unveiled an aggressive new approach to shake the world's third-largest economy out of its near-two-decade stagnation and growth-crippling deflation. The bank will pump huge amounts of money into the economy via government bond purchases and pursue a 2 percent inflation target in order to spark lending and spending.

Earlier, the rally ran out of stream and the Nikkei edged down slightly to close at 13,192.35. However, the yen continues to push four-year lows against the dollar, and was trading 0.5 percent lower at 99.09 yen. It hasn't breached 100 yen since April 2009.

Gains in Hong Kong and mainland China markets reflected a decreasing sense of alarm over the outbreak of a new bird flu strain in eastern China that has killed seven people so far. There is no sign that the virus is being transmitted from human to human.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng rose 0.7 percent to 21,870.34 and the Shanghai Composite Index added 0.6 percent to 2,225.77. The smaller Shenzhen Composite Index advanced 0.8 percent to 926.22.

Another focus in Asia has been the rise in tensions between the two Koreas, as Pyongyang recalled all its workers from the Kaesong industrial complex, the last major economic link between South Korea and North Korea. South Korea's Kospi rose 0.1 percent to 1,920.74 but the country's currency, the won, hovered at its lowest levels since July 2012.

Trading elsewhere was fairly lackluster, with the euro 0.2 percent higher on the day at $1.3045 and the benchmark New York oil rate down 15 cents at $93.21 a barrel.

____

Pamela Sampson in Bangkok contributed to this report.

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Survey: Small business optimism falls in March

NEW YORK — Optimism among small business owners took a dive last month as expectations for their companies' sales and the economy fell, according to a survey released Tuesday.

The National Federation of Independent Business said its index of small business optimism, compiled from a survey of its members, fell 1.3 points to 89.5 after three months of modest gains.

More than three-quarters of the 759 company owners surveyed said they expect business conditions six months from now to be the same as they are now, or worse.

The number of owners expecting their sales to increase fell 4 percentage points.

The survey was in line with other reports that showed a slowing in business during March. The Institute for Supply Management said surveys of its members showed slower growth in both the manufacturing and service sectors. And the Labor Department said employers added only 88,000 jobs, significantly less than in the previous few months.

"The fact that they are not growing, not hiring, not borrowing and not expanding like they should be is evidence enough that uncertainty is slowing the economy," said William Dunkelberg, the NFIB's chief economist.

Four percent of the participants said this is a good time to expand their facilities. And owners are also cautious about making new investments — 25 percent said they plan to make investments in the next three to six months. That's unchanged from February's level.

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BMW sets monthly sales record with 3 pct increase

FRANKFURT, Germany — German luxury automaker BMW AG says it had its best month ever in March, increasing global sales by 3 percent to 191,269 vehicles.

For the first three months of the year, sales rose by 5.3 percent compared with a year earlier, to 448,200 units — even though sales slipped in the company's home market, Germany.

German sales were off 3.8 percent. The company on Tuesday cited a "difficult environment" for selling cars but said it nevertheless gained market share. Sales rose 4.3 percent in the U.S. and 7.6 percent in China. Russian sales boomed 21.1 percent during the quarter.

The Munich-based company's mainstay 3-series midsize sedan helped global sales, with its numbers up 19.9 percent.

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Lawmaker: Iran could quit nuclear treaty

TEHRAN, Iran — Iran will keep the option of withdrawing from the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty on the table and will seriously consider it if the West intensifies sanctions or refers the case to the U.N. Security Council, a leading lawmaker warned Monday.

Alaeddin Boroujerdi said Iran cannot remain an NPT member while it is punished for exercising its nuclear rights, while offering terms for a deal at the same time — halting high-quality enrichment in exchange for cancellation of punishing Western sanctions.

"It's not acceptable that Iran respects NPT but the U.S. and the West ignore NPT's Article 6 — reducing nuclear weapons — and Article 4 — right to enrichment," Boroujerdi said, according to the state TV's Al-Alam website.

"Therefore, there is no reason for Iran to remain an NPT member under such circumstances," he said.

Boroujerdi heads the Iranian parliament's security and foreign policy committee.

The 1968 treaty aims to stop the spread of nuclear weapons. Signatories commit to allowing international inspections of their nuclear facilities. Article 4 endorses the right of nations to peaceful nuclear development, and Article 6 states the goal of eventual nuclear disarmament. Iran signed the pact in 1968 and ratified it in 1970. Key nuclear powers, like India, Pakistan and Israel, have not signed. India and Pakistan have tested nuclear bombs.

The West fears Iran may be aiming to develop nuclear weapons. Tehran has denied the charges, saying its program is geared toward generating electricity and producing radioisotopes to treat cancer patients.

Boroujerdi said the final decision on pulling out of NPT rests with the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and the Supreme National Security Council, the body that handles the country's nuclear policy.

The latest round of talks between Iran and a group of six world powers, in Kazakhstan over the weekend, failed to narrow the differences. The six want Iran to stop its highest level uranium enrichment — 20 percent — and shut down its underground Fordo enrichment site as confidence-building measures.

In return, and only after confirmation from the International Atomic Energy Agency that Iran has implemented the measures, the U.S. and European Union would suspend sanctions on gold and precious metals, and the export of petrochemicals. But severe sanctions including a ban on exporting oil and restrictions on banking would remain in place.

Iran said the proposal by the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany is "not balanced" and "not proportionate." Iran's income from oil and gas exports has dropped by 45 percent as a result of the sanctions.

Boroujerdi said Iran has the right to enrich uranium even higher than 20 percent, based on its needs.

"They say stop 20 percent enrichment. This is while such level of enrichment and even 20 and 50 percent is authorized on the basis of IAEA rules. The red line is nuclear bomb," Al-Alam quoted him as saying.

Even so, he said Iran will reciprocate proportionately if sanctions are lifted.

"If we are to cooperate in areas such as 20 percent enrichment, sanctions against Iran must definitely be lifted in return," he said.

He rejected closing the underground Fordo facility. "Fordo is to protect our nuclear equipment from the danger of air attacks or missile strikes by the Zionist regime," he said. "No sane person would put its wealth at the disposal of the enemy's target."

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Newspaper revenue fell 2 pct to $38.6B in 2012

ARLINGTON, Va. — The decline in revenue in the newspaper industry slowed last year.

The Newspaper Association of America reports total revenue in 2012 fell 2 percent to $38.6 billion from $39.5 billion in 2011, the slowest pace in six years. The association says publishers turned to new businesses and raised more money from online subscriptions.

Online subscriptions helped circulation revenue rise by 5 percent to $10.4 billion. It was the first gain since 2003.

The association's figures are projections based on a survey of 17 companies that represent about half of the industry's revenue. Publishers provided a detailed breakdown of their revenue on condition of anonymity.

For the first time, the NAA data incorporated new sources of revenue that virtually didn't exist for the industry a decade ago, including e-commerce, event hosting and providing advertising agency-like services to local companies.

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Markets settle after US jobs disappointment

LONDON — Japanese shares were the standout once again on Monday as the yen's depreciation gathered pace. Markets elsewhere steadied following a sell-off at the end of last week after disappointing U.S. jobs data.

With tensions mounting on the Korean peninsula, an outbreak of bird flu in China and Portugal under pressure to make more spending cuts, sentiment in the markets remains fragile.

"There's no shortage of geopolitical factors in play right now, ranging from the threat of all-out war in North Korea to the latest chapter in the eurozone saga," said Fawad Razaqzada, market strategist at GFT Markets.

In Europe, the FTSE 100 index of leading British shares was up 0.3 percent at 6,268 while Germany's DAX was barely higher at 7,661. The CAC-40 in France was 0.3 percent higher at 3,674.

One stock market in Europe that was on the wane was Portugal's PSI 20, which was trading 1.4 percent lower after the prime minister announced that the country will have to make more spending cuts because the Constitutional Court blocked parts of its budget plan.

In the U.S., the Dow Jones industrial average was down 0.3 percent at 14,518 while the broader S&P 500 index fell 0.2 percent to 1,551. On Friday, stocks suffered after a government report showed that U.S. employers added just 88,000 jobs in March, half the average of the previous six months.

The closely watched report, issued Friday, was a letdown for investors, who had become more optimistic about the economy after recent positive signs on housing.

In terms of scheduled news, Monday will be fairly quiet in the U.S. but that won't last long. Aluminum giant Alcoa Inc. kicks off another U.S. corporate earnings reporting season after the markets close.

"We should get a better indication of company optimism on this point as U.S. earnings season starts," said Michael Hewson, senior market analyst at CMC Markets.

As well as a run of earnings this week, investors expect to get a steer from the U.S. Federal Reserve about whether the central bank plans to withdraw some of its monetary stimulus. Minutes to the last policy meeting of the Fed are due to be published Wednesday.

Earlier in Asia, investors had a raft of issues to deal with as well as their first response to Friday's U.S. payrolls figures.

The Nikkei in Tokyo piled on more gains as the yen's dramatic fall boosted the country's powerhouse export sector. The Japanese yen has weakened sharply since last Thursday's decision by the Bank of Japan to overhaul its monetary policy in a bid to snap Japan out of years of deflation.

The Nikkei 225 in Tokyo shot up 2.8 percent to close at 13,192.59, its highest close since August 2008. The dollar vaulted to 98.55 yen from 94.13 yen late Friday in New York. The last time the dollar was 100 yen was four years ago.

A weaker currency can help make Japanese exports more price competitive in overseas markets. Suzuki Motor Corp. surged 8.1 percent. Sharp Corp. advanced 7.3 percent.

Elsewhere, South Korea's Kospi lost 0.4 percent to close at 1,918.69, its lowest level since November 2012 as tensions between the two Koreas remained elevated. North Korea has for weeks been threatening military or other action to punish South Korea and the U.S. for holding joint military drills.

"Compared to the past, the hostility of North Korea this time is extraordinary in some measures. In this regard, there is an impact to our financial markets to a certain degree," Hyun Oh-seok, South Korea's finance minister, told reporters. "We are closely monitoring the impact on financial markets and the economy."

Foreign investors sold more South Korean stocks than they bought for the fourth straight session Monday, while the local currency lost value as investors see growing risks of war on the Korean Peninsula. The dollar rose to 1,140.10 won, its highest level since July 26.

Hong Kong's Hang Seng index bounced between gains and losses as investors sized up the potential threat from an outbreak of a new bird flu strain that has sickened 21 people, killing six of them. All cases have been reported in the eastern part of China. The Hang Seng fell marginally to close at 21,718.05.

Health officials believe people are contracting the virus through direct contact with infected fowl and say there's no evidence the virus is spreading easily between people.

Oil prices edged higher, with the benchmark New York rate up 28 cents at $92.98 barrel.

___

AP Business Writers Pamela Sampson in Bangkok and Youkyung Lee from Seoul contributed.

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Ericsson to buy Microsoft's TV software unit

NEW YORK — Ericsson says it has agreed to buy Microsoft's Mediaroom business, which makes the software that powers AT&T's U-Verse TV service.

Ericsson, the Swedish maker of telecommunications equipment, did not say in its announcement how much it's paying.

Mediaroom gives phone companies a way to provide cable-like TV services over phone lines. Ericsson says it's used in 11 million households. U-Verse accounts for about 4.5 million of those. It's also used by Deutsche Telekom of Germany and by Telus Communications of Canada.

Ericsson says the business complements its portfolio of TV products. The business employs more than 400 people and is based in Mountain View, Calif.

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BP calls 1st witness at trial over Gulf spill

NEW ORLEANS — BP's first witness at a trial over the deadly Deepwater Horizon disaster says the company safely drilled its Macondo well in the Gulf of Mexico before an April 2010 blowout triggered the nation's worst offshore oil spill.

Retired LSU petroleum engineering professor Adam "Ted" Bourgoyne Jr. is an expert in drilling operations. He testified Monday that crew members and BP supervisors on the rig followed "normal industry practices" before encountering problems as they tried to plug the well.

Bourgoyne said he disagrees with an expert witness for the federal government who testified earlier that BP deviated from industry standards and continued drilling despite clear signs of trouble.

The trial has entered its seventh week. It is designed to identify causes of the blowout and assign fault to the companies involved.

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Fenway hopes to ring in a homer

Fenway-area businesses are hoping new, young Red Sox blood will deliver wins and customers after last year's worst season since 1965 proved a game-changer for their bottom lines.

"We're feeling really positive," said Garrett Harker, owner of Kenmore Square restaurant Eastern Standard. "We've gotten to know the manager, and I think he's going to be the polar opposite of the way things felt last year. And, clearly, the team has some scrappy young players."

Fan interest hit rock bottom last August and September, leading to a drop in business for Eastern Standard.

"There just wasn't the intensity for the pregame and around the ball games," Harker said. "Rather than the crowd that might order a rib eye and bottles of wine, it was more burgers and beers."

Ace Ticket, the Sox' official ticket reseller, expects that hangover from last season will end the team's sellout streak — in place since May 2003 — this month.

"People are just not enthusiastic enough to carry the team during a bad weather day in April," founder and CEO Jim Holzman said. "We find ourselves with some excessive inventory. These have been the lowest prices we've seen in three years."

Opening-day bleacher and right-field grandstand seats that were $95 last year are now $70, and box seats that were $150 are $125.

"People who buy now are going to be happy they bought them when it was a deal," Holzman said.

Tomorrow's home game against Baltimore will be the 66th year that 86-year-old Arthur D'Angelo, founder of the Red Sox Team Store on Yawkey Way, has worked Opening Day.

"Although the team finished poorly last year, there's always optimism, because you never know," said his son, Bobby D'Angelo.

D'Angelo acknowledges it's frustrating that the family's business is contingent on the Sox's performance, noting last year was "not fun."

"But it's our lives, and it's a marathon," he said. "You can't worry about one year. How many years were there before 2004?"

D'Angelo expects Jackie Bradley Jr. merchandise will be the top sellers this season, because fans gravitate toward youthful players. But if the Sox slide into another funk, the store has a fallback, particularly with fans of opposing teams.

"The one great thing about our business is not only are we selling the Red Sox, we're selling Fenway Park," D'Angelo said.

Chef Tiffani Faison's season outlook may not be popular with fans.

"You hope for a great team every year, obviously, but there's some upsides when the team isn't so great," said Faison, owner of Sweet Cheeks barbecue restaurant. "When we're not as great, there's some hope that people hang out a little more, eat a little more, drink a little more, because they're not in a rush to get to the park. So we're hoping for late-season greatness after the All-Star break."

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BlackBerry’s time may be ripe in iPhone battle

One-time smartphone rivals Apple and BlackBerry face crucial tests in the U.S. market this year, the former to maintain its mobile device edge, the latter merely to survive.

In a reversal of fortunes, Apple's shares have dropped 23 percent this year, while BlackBerry has jumped 25 percent on word that it's readying several new products.

Google's Android operating system still dominates the market while globally Samsung and Nokia are top device makers. But BlackBerry is trying to carve out its niche in a now-crowded field and hold onto its loyal users.

"BlackBerry has one shot to become the third relevant OS (operating system) and so far, the signs are good," said N. Venkat Venkatraman, professor of management at Boston University. "I see it less as a threat to Apple. Apple's worst enemy is Apple itself. It needs a home run with 
iOS 7 and it cannot be incremental. I see the mobile OS wars very much alive with BlackBerry still struggling, but not quite dead. But, if enterprises do not adopt their devices (and OS) in significant numbers, it may be too late for it to survive."

Last month, BlackBerry announced it had sold about one million Z10 devices, the first smartphone to run the new BlackBerry 10 OS that the company announced earlier this year.

This month, BlackBerry will launch the Q10 device, which features keyboard.

Based on a leak via Twitter last weekend, the company appears also to have plans to release the B10, a wide-screen tablet that would compete against the iPad, and two "phablets" called the U10 and R10. The B10 and U10 may be released later this year, while the R10 may ship in 2014. But the company would not confirm those dates.

"It looks like they're going to try to claw back some of their lost market share by having an aggressive and expansive product launch," said Max Wolff, senior analyst at Greencrest Capital. "BlackBerry built up the modern smartphone movement. They were the undisputed champion of the space. Now, BlackBerry's a shadow of its former self. Apple and Samsung came in and ate their lunch. BlackBerry needs to rebrand themselves and demonstrate to the marketplace that they're totally new and cutting edge, while keeping the hard-core loyalists that haven't deserted them. They could become a threat to Apple, but not in the near future. They're probably more of a threat to Microsoft Windows 8 and Android. BlackBerry is trying to survive, and Apple is trying to stay dominant."

Apple reportedly plans to begin production soon of a refreshed iPhone similar to its present one, while it works on a less-expensive iPhone that could be ready later this year.

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The Ticker

Study: Home buyers leery

The housing markets are in recovery, but a lot of people are still asking: Why buy a home anyway?

The housing bust has created great skepticism about the traditional connection between homeownership and the American dream, a survey commissioned by the MacArthur Foundation has found.

The How Housing Matters Survey, released Wednesday, found that more than three-quarters of Americans believe we are still in the middle of the housing crisis or that the worst is yet to come. When it comes to remedies, two-thirds believe the nation's policy should be to encourage renting and homeownership equally.

More than 7 in 10 renters aspire to own a home someday, according to the telephone survey of 1,433 adults, conducted between Feb. 27 and March 10. But it also turned up a solid majority who believe renters can be just as successful as owners in achieving the American dream.

THE OUTLOOK

MONDAY

• Former U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Dr. Andrew von Eschenbach is the keynote speaker at a seminar on combination medical device products at Lahey Hospital & Medical Center in Burlington.

TUESDAY

• SeaChange International releases quarterly earnings.
• The Wentworth Institute of Technology hosts a "Pitchfest" event on campus where students present their startup ideas in the hopes of receiving funding.
• MassDOT Board and Transportation Secretary and CEO Richard Davey discusses the state's transportation overhaul plan at a community meeting in Walpole.

WEDNESDAY

• Bed, Bath & Beyond and Demandware report quarterly financial earnings.
• The Federal Reserve releases minutes from its March interest-rate meeting.
• Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital-Needham break ground for the new Beth Israel Deaconess Cancer Center & Surgical Pavilion in Needham.
• Boston Public Library officials hold a public forum in the Rabb Lecture Hall to discuss plans to transform the Johnson building on Boylston Street in Copley Square.

THURSDAY

• Companies including Twin Rivers Technologies, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Raytheon Corp. and General Electric participate in a military veterans' job fair at Gillette Stadium.

THE SHUFFLE

• Acella Construction Corp. has promoted Saul Schrader, left, of Weymouth to the position of senior project manager. Schrader, who has a degree in construction management from the Wentworth Institute of Technology, joined Acella in 2004 as a project manager after previously working at the Lee Kennedy Construction Co. in Boston.

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Oil flush won’t cut down on Monte Carlo’s high consumption

My daughter has a 2004 Monte Carlo SS with the 3.8-liter motor. It uses about two quarts of oil between 3,500-mile changes. At the last oil change, the shop wanted to flush the motor, saying it would reduce the oil consumption. Is this possible? Also, the power steering makes a rubbing sound when you turn either left or right. The same shop said this was normal for the Monte Carlo and to not worry about it.

The accepted standard for "normal" oil consumption is a maximum of one quart per 2,000 miles. So the oil consumption on your daughter's vehicle is high but not necessarily excessive. Depending on the engine's mileage, it's borderline. GM doesn't recommend any type of engine flushing and, of course, engine flushing isn't going to fix worn parts like valve seals, piston rings, etc.

I'd try treating the symptoms first. Adding a half-can of SeaFoam to the oil can help free sticky oil control rings and dissolve carbon and varnish from oil residue. Using a different brand or higher-viscosity multiweight motor oil, particularly in warm weather, may help reduce oil consumption on a higher-mileage engine. Full synthetic oils will lower oil operating temperature and may reduce consumption.

• • •

I have a 1970 VW Bug with an add-on external oil cooler and 20,000 miles on a new (not rebuilt) engine. It runs cooler on multiweight oil than with straight 30-weight, but with so many varieties of oil on the market, which is best?

Air-cooled engines are also oil-cooled engines, so a synthetic multiweight oil would be an excellent choice to control oil temperatures.

• • •

Settle an easy question: What was the old General Motors "pecking order" from least expensive to most expensive? I say it was Chevy, Pontiac, Buick, Olds, then Cadillac. My buddy says it was Chevy, Pontiac, Olds, then Buick, then Caddy.

That's not an easy question. Before General Motors, Ransom Oldsmobile and David Buick were building cars before 1900. Billy Durant formed GM with the purchase of Buick in 1903 and Oldsmobile in 1909. He also added Cadillac and Oakland Motors (which became Pontiac) that same year. And finally, Chevrolet was added in 1916. By the end of the 1920s, each GM "brand" had is own marketing and identity.

I'm not sure it's possible to identify an absolute pecking order for GM vehicles, but by the late 1940s, several different automotive platforms were in production. The more expensive "C-body" was used for Cadillacs and Oldsmobiles and eventually for higher-end Buicks. The less expensive "A-body" was used for Chevrolets, Pontiacs and lower-end Oldsmobiles. Even at this stage, there was a great deal of "sharing" among GM brands.

By the late 1960s and into the 1970s, Buick, Olds and Pontiac shared many of the same platforms, so the "B-O-P" moniker applied to many chassis, engines and components. Perhaps that was an insight into today, where only Buick survives along with Chevy and Cadillac as the GM car brands.

So was it Buick, then Olds? Or Olds, then Buick? I guess it depends on which is your favorite. I lean toward Buick as the more prestigious brand. My dad drove a '41 Pontiac until the mid-1950s; then we had a succession of Buicks until he could afford a used Cadillac in the early 1960s.

There was a '68 Pontiac Catalina in there for a year or two, but he never liked the car so it was back to Cadillacs, including his last — a 1972 Sedan DeVille. In fact, I took my driver's test in our '59 Sedan DeVille, a leviathan of an automobile that made the parallel parking test a real challenge. We figured out a clever way to make sure I parked between the white lines ­— but that's a story for another day.

Great memories.

Paul Brand, author of "How to Repair Your Car," is an automotive troubleshooter, driving instructor and former race-car driver. Readers may write to him at: Star Tribune, 425 Portland Ave. S., Minneapolis, Minn., 55488 or via email at paulbrand@startribune.com. Please explain the problem in detail and include a daytime phone number.

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Hackers target Israeli websites

JERUSALEM — A weekend cyberattack campaign targeting Israeli government websites failed to cause serious disruption, officials said Sunday. The attacks followed warnings in the name of the group Anonymous that it was launching a massive hacking assault to protest Israeli policy toward the Palestinians.

Yitzhak Ben Yisrael, of the government's National Cyber Bureau, said hackers had mostly failed to shut down key sites.

"So far it is as was expected, there is hardly any real damage," Ben Yisrael said. "Anonymous doesn't have the skills to damage the country's vital infrastructure. And if that was its intention, then it wouldn't have announced the attack ahead of time. It wants to create noise in the media about issues that are close to its heart," he said.

Posters using the name of the hacking group Anonymous had warned they would launch a massive attack on Israeli sites in a strike they called (hash)OpIsrael starting April 7. Some said they were launching the assault in "solidarity" with the Palestinians.

Israel's Bureau of Statistics was down on Sunday morning but it was unclear if it was hacked. Media said the sites of the Defense and Education Ministry as well as banks had come under attack the night before but they were mostly repelled.

An Israeli government spokesman issued a statement saying sites were operating properly as usual. It said an Education Ministry site was down temporarily due to a technical issue unrelated to hacking attempts.

Israeli sites reported brief cyberattacks on the stock market website and the Finance Ministry website Saturday night. But the two institutions denied the reports.

Israeli media said small businesses had been targeted, and some websites' homepages were replaced by anti-Israel slogans. In retaliation, Israeli activists hacked sites of radical Islamist groups and splashed them with pro-Israel messages, media said.

Shlomi Dolev, an expert on network security and cryptography at Ben Gurion University, said attacks of this kind will likely become more common. "It is a good test for our defense systems and we will know better how to deal with more serious threats in the future," he said.

Dolev said Anonymous had declared on its forums that the main assault would be in the evening. Hackers have had little success in their attempts to take over and change Israeli sites so far and are planning "denial of service" attacks where sites are overwhelmed and communications are hindered.

He said Israel is well prepared to deal with the attacks. "This is a real battle. It is good training for our experts," he said.

Dolev who also serves as Chairman of the Inter-University-Communication-Center which connects Israeli universities and research branches of companies like IBM, said 40 security experts from the center "are looking forward to play with the attackers."

Hackers have tried before to topple Israeli sites.

In January last year, a hacker network that claimed to be based in Saudi Arabia paralyzed the websites of Israel's stock exchange and national airline and claimed to have published details of thousands of Israeli credit cards.

A concerted effort to cripple Israeli websites during November fighting in Gaza failed to cause serious disruption. Israel said at the time that protesters barraged Israel with more than 60 million hacking attempts.

An official of the militant Hamas movement that rules the Gaza Strip praised the current attack. "God bless the minds and the efforts of the soldiers of the electronic battle," Ihab Al- Ghussian, Gaza's chief government spokesman, wrote on his official Facebook page.

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