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| New EPA chief takes on critics of U.S. agency's policies Tuesday, Jul 30, 2013 11:38 AM PDT By Richard Valdmanis and Valerie Volcovici CAMBRIDGE, Mass./WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Delivering her first speech as the top U.S. environmental steward, Gina McCarthy on Tuesday pre-empted a frequent mantra of the agency's critics - that the Environmental Protection Agency's regulations disrupt the economy and cost jobs. The benefits derived from rules to address climate change and protect the environment far outweigh their costs, McCarthy said. She was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on July 18 as EPA administrator. ... Full Story | Top |
| Bloomberg's ban on big sodas is unconstitutional: appeals court Tuesday, Jul 30, 2013 10:58 AM PDT  By Joseph Ax NEW YORK (Reuters) - New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg's controversial plan to keep large sugary drinks out of restaurants and other eateries was rejected by a state appeals court on Tuesday, which said he had overstepped his authority in trying to impose the ban. The law, which would have prohibited those businesses from selling sodas and other sugary beverages larger than 16 ounces (473 ml), "violated the state principle of separation of powers," the First Department of the state Supreme Court's Appellate Division said. ... Full Story | Top |
| Security headaches dampen investor enthusiasm in Libya Tuesday, Jul 30, 2013 10:36 AM PDT  By Marie-Louise Gumuchian TRIPOLI (Reuters) - The men, some of them armed, arrived at the gates of the Al Hani General Construction Company compound on the outskirts of the Libyan capital and forced their way into the site. The 30 former employees charged towards the company's offices, where they demanded wages and other payments they said were due from the North African country's 2011 war, when many firms stopped work. They threatened two senior employees with a pistol. They kidnapped one of them before freeing him several hours later. ... Full Story | Top |
| Exclusive: Schneider nears $5 billion Invensys deal - sources Tuesday, Jul 30, 2013 10:19 AM PDT By Sophie Sassard and Soyoung Kim LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - France's Schneider Electric is nearing a 3.3 billion pound ($5.07 billion) deal to acquire British engineer Invensys and could announce it at its results on Wednesday, three people with direct knowledge of the matter said. The structure of the share and cash deal is expected to remain "roughly" the same as the one initially presented earlier this month as no other bidder has emerged to challenge Schneider's bid, said the people who asked not to be named because the talks are private. ... Full Story | Top |
| Entergy to cut jobs, mulls future of wholesale nuclear Tuesday, Jul 30, 2013 10:04 AM PDT HOUSTON (Reuters) - Power company Entergy Corp is mulling the future of its wholesale nuclear operation and plans to cut 800 jobs to save up to $250 million by 2016, Chief Executive Officer Leo Denault told investors on Tuesday. As part of his reorganization plan to simplify Entergy's corporate structure, Denault said the company is studying options for its non-utility owned power plants, mainly its aging nuclear plants operating in the U.S. Northeast which face falling wholesale prices and a difficult regulatory environment. ... Full Story | Top |
| U.S. slaughterhouse workers, truckers fuel deadly piglet virus spread Tuesday, Jul 30, 2013 09:31 AM PDT By P.J. Huffstutter CHICAGO (Reuters) - Questionable hygiene practices among meat processing plant employees, freight truck drivers and others who work at hog slaughter houses are aiding in the spread of porcine epidemic diarrhea virus across the United States, according to research conducted by the University of Illinois staff. PEDv is spread most commonly by pigs ingesting contaminated feces. The virus, which is deadly to very young piglets, does not pose a health risk to humans or other animals and the meat from PEDv-infected pigs is safe for people to eat, according to federal officials. ... Full Story | Top |
| JPMorgan to pay $410 million to settle power market case Tuesday, Jul 30, 2013 09:31 AM PDT  By Scott DiSavino NEW YORK (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co agreed on Tuesday to pay $410 million to settle allegations of power market manipulation in California and the Midwest, the latest in a series of high-profile inquiries by U.S. federal energy regulators. The settlement, announced by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), will allow Chief Executive Jamie Dimon to close the books on one of several costly run-ins with regulators over the past year. It came days after the bank said it was quitting the physical commodities business. ... Full Story | Top |
| Car bomb defused outside hotel in Libyan capital Tuesday, Jul 30, 2013 09:30 AM PDT By Marie-Louise Gumuchian TRIPOLI (Reuters) - Libyan security forces defused a dozen bombs found in a car parked outside a luxury hotel in the capital Tripoli, the interior ministry said on Tuesday. The car was parked near the Radisson-Blu, a seafront hotel popular with foreign business people, on Monday evening. The bombs were discovered a week after officials said another large hotel may have been the target of a rocket that landed nearby. ... Full Story | Top |
| Aegerion raises revenue forecast; shares jump 26 percent Tuesday, Jul 30, 2013 09:09 AM PDT (Reuters) - Aegerion Pharmaceuticals Inc raised its full-year revenue forecast following strong sales growth for its cholesterol-lowering drug Juxtapid in the second quarter, sending its shares up as much as 26 percent. The number of patients receiving the therapy rose 185 percent in the quarter from the first quarter, while new patients waiting to receive the drug more than doubled. Juxtapid was approved in December as an alternative treatment for patients who have a genetic predisposition to high cholesterol. The company launched the drug in late-January. ... Full Story | Top |
| Nigeria arrests 42 Boko Haram suspects in Lagos, Ogun Tuesday, Jul 30, 2013 09:08 AM PDT  LAGOS (Reuters) - Nigerian authorities have arrested 42 suspected members of Islamist sect Boko Haram in Lagos and the neighboring southwest state of Ogun, an army spokesman said on Tuesday. During a four-year insurgency Boko Haram's attacks have been focused mostly in the Muslim north, far from the commercial capital Lagos and the southern oil fields which provide more than 2 million barrels per day to world markets. ... Full Story | Top |
| BP braced for legal long-haul as spill payouts leap Tuesday, Jul 30, 2013 06:25 AM PDT  By Andrew Callus LONDON (Reuters) - BP is digging in for a long legal battle over the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, Chief Executive Bob Dudley said on Tuesday after compensation costs soared for a second straight quarter. The payouts, the scale of which BP is disputing even though they are one part of the case that was settled last year, have been the focus of attention in recent months in a wider legal process that has saddled BP with a $42.4 billion clean-up, fines and compensation burden and could yet cost billions more. ... Full Story | Top |
| Florida propane plant blast was likely accidental, fire chief says Tuesday, Jul 30, 2013 06:10 AM PDT  ORLANDO, Florida (Reuters) - A propane gas plant explosion in central Florida that injured seven workers, including at least three critically, was most likely caused by an accident, the fire chief for the town of Tavares said on Tuesday. "We don't think there was any act of sabotage or anything like that," the Orlando Sentinel quoted Fire Chief Richard Keith as saying. "It was probably a human or equipment error." Dozens of explosions rocked the Blue Rhino plant in Tavares on Monday night, sending columns of flames into the sky. ... Full Story | Top |
| Power producer TransAlta posts profit due to lower impairment charges Tuesday, Jul 30, 2013 05:35 AM PDT (Reuters) - Canadian power-generation company TransAlta Corp posted a profit in the second quarter, compared with a loss a year earlier, due to lower asset impairment charges and fall in income tax costs. The company said earnings also improved due to absence of arbitration penalties related to its Sundance units 1 and 2. The Sundance power plant is the largest coal-fired electrical generating facility in western Canada, with six generating units. Net income attributable to common shareholders was C$15 million ($14. ... Full Story | Top |
| More honesty needed about Britain's rising energy bills: Kemp Tuesday, Jul 30, 2013 04:34 AM PDT By John Kemp LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's gas and electricity suppliers should itemize customer bills to show how much of the total is related to the fuel costs, transmission charges, company margins and the government's own energy policies. The recommendation is contained in a wide-ranging and insightful report on "Energy prices, profits and poverty" published on Monday by the House of Commons Select Committee on Energy and Climate Change. Several energy suppliers have already threatened to itemize bills. ... Full Story | Top |
| Oil sands producer MEG Energy expects strong second half Tuesday, Jul 30, 2013 04:08 AM PDT (Reuters) - Canadian oil sands producer MEG Energy Corp forecast a strong second half as it expects production to begin at the next phase of its flagship project in the fourth quarter. The company said production in phase 2B of the Christina Lake project in Alberta would exceed initial estimates of 35,000 barrels of oil per day (bopd). The project currently produces 22,000 bopd in Phase 2. MEG has been boosting production when new routes open up to transport heavier Canadian crude to the lucrative U.S. market. ... Full Story | Top |
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