Finance and Economic

NATO warplanes bombed three Libyan state TV satellite transmitters in Tripoli overnight, targeting facilities that have been used to incite violence and threaten civilians, the military alliance said Saturday.

A series of loud explosions echoed across the capital before dawn. There was no immediate comment from Libyan officials on what had been hit, but state TV was still on the air in Tripoli as of Saturday morning.

NATO said the airstrikes aimed to degrade Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi’s “use of satellite television as a means to intimidate the Libyan people and incite acts of violence against them.”

“Striking specifically these critical satellite dishes will reduce the regime’s ability to oppress civilians while (preserving) television broadcast infrastructure that will be needed after the conflict,” the alliance said in a statement posted on its website.

It said Gadhafi’s inflammatory TV broadcasts were intended to mobilize his supporters.

In addition to the three TV transmitters, during the past 24 hours alliance aircraft targeted military vehicles, radars, ammunition dumps, anti-aircraft guns, and command centers near the front lines in the east and west, NATO said in a statement.

The attempt to silence the government’s TV broadcasts comes at a sensitive time for the rebels, who appeared to be in disarray after the mysterious death of their chief military commander. Abdel-Fattah Younis’ body was found Thursday, dumped outside the rebels’ de facto capital of Benghazi, along with the bodies of two colonels who were his top aides. They had been shot and their bodies burned.

NATO too has been increasingly embarrassed by the failure of its bombing campaign, now in its fifth month, to dislodge Gadhafi’s regime. With the fasting month of Ramadan due to start in August, there is growing realization within the alliance that the costly campaign will drag on into the autumn and possibly longer.

NATO had originally hoped that a series of quick, sharp strikes would quickly force Gadhafi to give up power. The alliance has carried out about 6,500 strike sorties and a total of 17,000 sorties since March.

Eight NATO members have been participating in air campaign in Libya: the U.S., Britain, France, Belgium, Canada, Norway, Denmark and Italy. They have carried out a total of more than 6,500 strike sorties.

But this coalition has been gradually fraying amid growing public opposition in Europe to the costs of the campaign _ estimated at more than a billion euros _ at a time of budget cuts and other austerity measures.

The United States was the first to limit its participation, deciding to only provide support to the European allies. Then Italy withdrew its only aircraft carrier and part of its air force contingent. Meanwhile, Norway has announced it will pull all of its F-16 warplanes out of the operation by Monday.

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Viva Del Taco?

On Sunday, the owner of the old Del Taco building in Midtown backed off plans to knock it down, saying he would explore a range of other alternatives before seeking a demolition permit from the city.

After weeks of silence on his plan to bulldoze the saucer-shaped landmark at South Grand and Forest Park boulevards near St. Louis University, developer Rick Yackey sent a statement to the Post-Dispatch pledging to hire an architect, talk with potential tenants and hold a community meeting to explore possible uses of the building.

“I am a developer, not a demolition man,” Yackey wrote, noting that he has performed more than 2 million square feet worth of historic rehabs in the city, been honored by the Landmarks Association of St. Louis and never once applied for a demolition permit.

Yet demolition was to be the fate of the Del Taco building, according to plans filed with the city last month. Yackey, who owns the structure and neighboring Council Plaza, indicated he would knock down the 1967-built former gas station and replace it with new buildings for retail tenants.

That news prompted a flurry of protests from fans of both the restaurant and the building’s funky midcentury architecture. Even as the Del Taco itself closed, thousands of people signed online petitions to save the structure. Supporters held rallies. Mayor Francis Slay weighed in, urging reuse. Eventually, aldermen changed the redevelopment plan to require review by the city’s Preservation Board before any demolition permit could be issued. That’s where things stand now.

Yackey said his goal is an “economically viable” project that fits in with the neighbors. Demolition was always a last resort, he said, but the existing structure, just 2,000 square feet under a vast cement canopy, has very little leasable space payday loan lenders.

“This isn’t about disliking the building,” he said. “It’s about things being functionally obsolete.”

But after the uproar, and after talking with Slay and Alderman Marlene Davis, Yackey decided to see whether he can keep the building. He has hired an architect to study adding on to the ground floor, and he’s talking with the owner of a neighboring property about swapping some land for more parking spaces.

That is great news both for the Del Taco building itself and for the broader cause of preservation in St. Louis, said Randy Vines, who helped organize rallies in support of the building. The outpouring of support shows that people care about distinctive buildings, even if they’re just a few decades old, he said. And the protesters tried hard to keep a positive tone.

“We’ve done our best to offer solutions,” Vines said. “Certainly this is a building that can be adapted to another use.”

Yackey said he’s talking with potential tenants already. He wouldn’t say who, but Kaldi’s Coffee and local pizza chain Pi confirmed last week that they’re interested. Yackey also plans to hold a “community meeting to explore reuse and redevelopment ideas.”

And, Yackey said, he won’t rush to knock the building down.

“I have not applied for and will not apply for a demolition permit until completing this investigative process,” Yackey wrote. He said he expects that will take two or three months.

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The nameplate outside George Paz’s windlowless office, no bigger than any other at Express Scripts, carries his name, but no title.

The mustachioed chairman and chief executive eats in the company cafeteria, and parks his Audi sedan in an unreserved, lower-level spot. He knows a surprising number of his employees on a first-name basis, stopping occasionally to chat them up.

Even with Thursday’s announcement that Express Scripts plans to buy a leading rival, Medco Health Solutions, Paz eschews the spotlight

Australia and Japan sparred verbally Tuesday at a meeting of the International Whaling Commission, after Japan called on Australia to better protect its whaling ships from sabotage raids by anti-whaling activists.

Confrontations with activists forced Japan to cut short its annual hunt south of Australia this year. Protesters threw paint, smoke bombs and rancid butter in bottles toward the Japanese whaling ships. They also got a rope entangled in the propeller on a harpoon vessel, causing it to slow down.

Australia rebuffed Japan’s request, with Environment Minister Tony Burke saying that while Australia would abide by the principles of safety at sea and international maritime law, his country “simply can’t agree” to providing more protection to Japanese ships than other vessels operating in the area.

Japanese whalers regularly hunt in Antarctic waters south of Australia, a feeding ground for 80 percent of the world’s whales, and the commission has no enforcement powers to stop them. Japan insists the hunt is for scientific research, something anti-whaling nations dispute.

“This so-called scientific whaling lacks any scientific argument behind it,” Burke said. “What’s going on there is commercial whaling. Australia is opposed to commercial whaling.”

Australia has launched a complaint against Japanese whaling at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, the U.N.’s highest court.

Commercial whaling is banned by a 1986 moratorium. Talks on allowing limited commercial whaling broke down last year, and no breakthroughs are expected at IWC talks in Jersey.

Britain has proposed reforms to make the commission more transparent and effective, including by forcing governments to pay their membership fees by bank transfers, which can be easily traced, instead of cash or checks.

The move comes in the wake of allegations last year that Japan has been using aid money and personal favors to buy votes, which Japan denies.

“I still hear that people are paying their dues in cash. I think that’s unacceptable … and leaves an organization open to accusations,” British Fisheries minister Richard Benyon said. “These may be perceptions not reality, but it’s something this organization has to tackle.”

The British proposal was held up by procedural issues Tuesday and will be re-tabled Wednesday.

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At the center of the down payment debate in Washington are rules about what constitutes a “qualifying residential mortgage,” or QRM.

Under the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform Act, a QRM would constitute a gold standard for home loans, and mortgages that meet it would be exempt from rules requiring the bank that generates a loan to keep at least 5 percent of the loan’s value on its books

The South Grand Del Taco may have more than 12,000 fans on Facebook, but one powerful priest across the street is decidedly not among them.

St. Louis University President Father Lawrence Biondi last week sent a letter to St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay voicing his support for plans to demolish the saucer-shaped taco stand and replace it with new buildings.

In his letter, a copy of which was obtained by the Post-Dispatch, Biondi said “the site has attracted unwanted criminal activity and has generated numerous traffic issues over the years.”

“With so many Saint Louis University students living so close to this property, this property’s land use is cause for concern for parents, students, faculty and staff,” he wrote. “I also can tell you that student leaders support Mr. Yackey’s redevelopment efforts.”

Biondi has no official say in the matter - it’s in the hands of the Board of Aldermen and then, likely, the city’s Preservation Board - but he’s clearly a heavyweight in Midtown development business cards design. His university has bought up lots of land in the neighborhood and launched several large-scale projects. And, he says, Yackey’s project is the kind of thing Midtown needs more of.

“It is our belief that we should not stand in the way of this progress,” he wrote.

The Del Taco itself, which had been under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection since late 2009, closed last week. The building itself still stands, with St. Louis Aldermen set to make a final vote Friday on a blighting and redevelopment plan for the site.

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Businesses requested more airplanes, autos, and oil drilling equipment in May. The jump in factory orders after a sluggish spring suggests supply disruptions stemming from the Japan crisis are fading.

Factory orders rose 0.8 percent in May, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. That followed a downwardly revised drop of 0.9 percent in April.

The increase pushed factory orders to $445.3 billion. That’s almost 32 percent higher than the low point during the recession, reached in March 2009.

Much of the increase was driven by a 36.5 percent increase in orders for aircraft, a volatile category. But there were also signs of strength in areas that had slowed sharply in the previous month.

Auto and auto parts orders rose 2 percent. And a measure of business investment rose 1.6 percent, after falling 0.4 percent the previous month. Companies invested more in computers and equipment.

Orders for so-called nondurable goods, such as food, clothing, oil, and plastics, fell 0.2 percent in May. But that was partly because oil prices dropped.

Until this spring, manufacturing had been one of the strongest sectors of the economy since the recession ended two years ago.

Economists largely blamed the weak period on high gas prices and the impact of the earthquake in Japan, which led to a parts shortage that has hampered U.S. manufacturers. Those factors appear to be easing. Gas prices have come down since peaking in early May. And the manufacturing sector expanded at a faster pace in June after slowing sharply in May, according to the Institute of Supply Management.

“There are encouraging signs that the second half will likely get better, particularly for manufacturers,” said Ryan Sweet, an economist at Moody’s Analytics short term personal loan.

A recovery in the auto sector is one reason production is picking up. Japanese automakers with plants in the U.S., such as Toyota Motor Corp., Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co., sharply cut production in the spring. But they are restoring output. Toyota executives say their North American factories will be back to 100 percent by September.

Busier auto plants would help boost the economy in the second half of this year. The economy grew at a 1.9 percent annual pace in the January-March quarter. Most economists expect a similarly weak pace of growth in the April-June quarter.

The economy is expected to grow at a 3.2 percent in the second half of this year, according to an Associated Press survey of 38 top economists.

Growth must be stronger to significantly lower the unemployment rate, which was 9.1 percent last month. The economy would need to grow 5 percent for a whole year to significantly bring down the unemployment rate. Economic growth of just 3 percent a year would hold the unemployment steady and keep up with population growth.

Employers added only 54,000 net new jobs in May, much slower than the average gain of 220,000 per month in the previous three months.

The government reports Friday on hiring data in June. Economists expect the economy added only 90,000 jobs and the unemployment rate was unchanged, according to survey by FactSet.

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General Mills Inc.’s fiscal fourth-quarter net income rose 51 percent on stronger sales but was hampered by higher ingredient costs.

The Minneapolis-based maker of Cheerios, Lucky Charms and other foods also gave a 2012 earnings outlook below analysts’ expectations.

General Mills earned $320.2 million, or 48 cents per share, for the period ended May 29. That’s up from $211.9 million, or 31 cents per share, a year ago.

Adjusted earnings increased to 52 cents per share from 41 cents per share, meeting analysts’ forecasts.

Revenue climbed 3 percent to $3.63 billion from $3.53 billion, but missed Wall Street’s estimate of $3.66 billion.

The company saw its biggest sales gain in its Small Planet Foods organic and natural foods division, with its snacks and Yoplait divisions also reporting increased sales.

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U2 and its frontman Bono, known for their global poverty-fighting efforts, were accused of dodging taxes in Ireland by activists who crashed their performance Friday at England’s Glastonbury festival.

The anti-capitalist group Art Uncut inflated a 20-foot (6-meter) balloon emblazoned with the message “U Pay Your Tax 2.” Security guards wrestled them to the ground before deflating the balloon and taking it away. About 30 people were involved in the angry clash.

Bono fan Gary Noble, 45, said he found the security reponse “all a bit shocking.”

“I love U2 but I think everyone should pay their taxes. The campaigners have a right to voice their opinion,” he said.

Art Uncut argues that while Bono campaigns against poverty in the developing world, his group has avoided paying Irish taxes at a time when his austerity-hit country desperately needs money.

Ireland, which has already accepted an international bailout, is suffering through deep spending cuts, tax hikes and rising unemployment as it tries to pull the debt-burdened economy back from brink of bankruptcy.

“Tax(es) nestling in the band’s bank account should be helping to keep open the hospitals, schools and libraries that are closing all over Ireland,” Art Uncut member Charlie Dewar said ahead of the protest.

U2, the country’s most successful band, was heavily criticized in 2006 for moving its corporate base from Ireland to the Netherlands, where royalties on music incur virtually no tax payday loans.

Bono, guitarist The Edge and U2’s other members _ bassist Adam Clayton and drummer Larry Mullen _ are among the country’s wealthiest residents. Forbes magazine has estimated the band earned $195 million last year, mostly through its hugely profitable “360 Degrees” world tour.

It’s not known how much personal income tax the band members pay in Ireland.

During the years when Ireland was a booming “Celtic Tiger” economy, the members of U2 invested in a wide range of Dublin properties, including a luxury riverside hotel and a planned Norman Foster-designed skyscraper on the River Liffey. Plans for the “U2 Tower” were shelved when property prices collapsed in 2008.

U2 is headlining the first night of the three-day Glastonbury festival, its first appearance at Britain’s most prestigious summer music event. The band was due to perform last year but had to pull out after Bono injured his back.

Some 170,000 people have descended on a farm in southwest England for the extravaganza, which includes sets by Morrissey, Mumford & Sons, Coldplay, Beyonce and scores of other acts.

Rubber boots are the fashion item of choice after heavy rain turned the 900-acre (364-hectare) site into a mudbath. More rain is forecast for later Friday.

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Stocks climbed for a third straight day on Monday, the longest stretch of gains the market has had in nearly a month.

Major indexes opened mixed but moved higher in midday trading, putting the market further away from its longest weekly losing streak since 2002. Last week stocks eked out tiny gains, giving the Dow Jones industrial average and the Standard & Poor’s 500 index their first rises after a six-week slump.

The downturn, which began in early May, brought the S&P 500 close to its average level over the prior 200 days. So long as the index doesn’t sink far below that level, many technical traders see it as a sign to start buying stocks again. The S&P is now 6 percent below the 2011 high it reached on April 29.

“In the short term, stocks have been oversold, and you’re going to get some sort of bounce, whether justified or not, just for technical reasons,” said Paul Simon, chief investment officer for Tactical Allocation Group, which has $1.5 billion in assets under advisement.

The S&P 500 index is up 7 points, 0.6 percent, at 1,278. The Dow Jones industrial average is up 71 points, or 0.6 percent, to 12,076. The Nasdaq is up 16, or 0.6 percent, to 2,632.

European leaders failed over the weekend to agree on releasing more financial aid to Greece, saying the country must first agree to more budget cuts. Greece’s recent efforts to slash spending have led to street protests and political turmoil in Athens. The Greek government faces a confidence vote on Tuesday.

Prime Minister George Papandreou’s newly-reshuffled government is expected to prevail in the vote, and officials say they expect Greece to get its next installment of emergency loans in July. If Greece were to default, it could trigger losses for the banks that hold Greek bonds and more turmoil in financial markets personal loans for people with bad credit.

Investors are also looking ahead to the Federal Reserve’s two-day policy meeting, which begins Tuesday, and the next round of corporate earnings reports that begin in July, said Oliver Pursche, president of Gary Goldberg Financial Services.

“There’s a little fatigue about hearing about the same problems, and there’s no shock factor anymore,” he said. “So now you’re going to start looking ahead. Earnings season is going to start in three weeks or so.”

Analysts expect operating earnings per share for companies in the S&P 500 index rose 14 percent in the second quarter. They also expect the Fed to keep interest rates at nearly zero, a record low.

Fertilizer producer Agrium Inc. raised its forecast for second-quarter earnings after record crop prices pushed up demand for its products. Its stock rose 2.8 percent.

Nabors Industries Ltd., a driller for oil and gas, warned that its pressure pumping and international businesses have been weaker than it expected. The stock lost 2.2 percent.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. fell 1.9 percent after saying it would buy the U.S. retail operations of Royal Bank of Canada for $3.45 billion. The deal will make PNC the fifth biggest U.S. bank with 2,870 branches. The deal follows Capital One Financial Corp.’s $9 billion purchase last week of ING’s U.S. online bank.

Greece has been at the center of Europe’s debt worries, but other countries are also facing troubles. Moody’s warned that it may cut Italy’s credit rating because of its mounting debt and sluggish growth prospects.

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