Megyn Kelly, Sean Hannity hit new ratings highs with crisis coverage

Coverage of both the Malaysia Airlines downed over Ukraine and unrest in the Gaza region helped two Fox News Channel programs reach new total-audience highs, according to data from Nielsen Media Research.

The 21st Century Fox cable outlet's "The Kelly File" delivered a high in total viewership, notching nearly 3.2 million viewers, while "Hannity" reached a new high of nearly 2.58 million viewers, according to Nielsen. "Hannity" also set a new record for viewers between 25 and 54, the demographic most attractive to advertisers in news programming, reaching 615,000.

Fox News was the most-watched cable-news network during Thursday coverage of the event, Nielsen said. Fox News averaged over 3 million viewers in primetime and nearly 600,000 among viewers between 25 and 54. Fox News averaged 1.5 million in total viewers for the viewing day and 313,000 among viewers between 25 and 54.

CNN also saw viewership surge. In primetime, CNN delivered its highest daily total viewership and 25-54 audience since its broadcast of the State of the Union address on January 2. The Time Warner outlet said it notched 1.2 million viewers in primetime overall while luring about 488,000 viewers in the demo. In total day, CNN lured its highest daily total audience and 25-54 viewership since its March 24 coverage of the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. CNN captured an average of 699,000 in total viewers and an average of 247,000 between the ages of 25 and 54.

(C) 2014 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

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Market Basket workers escape ax

There had yet to be fallout last night for Market Basket employees who ditched work yesterday to rally for the reinstatement of the grocery chain's fired CEO even as their own jobs were on the line.

An estimated 2,500 to 3,000 Market Basket employees and others showed up at the company's Tewksbury headquarters yesterday to show support for former CEO Arthur T. Demoulas, fired last month by a board aligned with his rival cousin and shareholder, Arthur S. Demoulas.

The turnout by warehouse employees and drivers crippled the company's ability to ship groceries from the adjacent Tewksbury distribution center to stores, workers said.

"I never took more sick calls in my life than I did today," Dean Joyce, the center's manager, told those gathered for the rally. "I hope you all feel better."

Protests will continue until Arthur T. Demoulas "comes back," district manager Tom Trainor said.

"We can shut this company down, and that is the only way we're going to gain the attention of the board of directors," Trainor said. "We keep these warehouses shut down, and by midweek next week, the customers will be ringing the phone off the hook."

A driver for an outside carrier said he was unable to make his scheduled delivery to the Tewksbury center yesterday morning and had to return the load to his Woburn warehouse.

"There were 50 trucks in the parking lot this morning waiting to get in," said the driver, Jason, who only wanted to be identified by his first name. "They weren't taking any trucks. All the truck bays are blocked (by Market Basket trucks), and there weren't any Market Basket employees. Normally, there's trucks coming in all day, at least until 4 p.m."

Stores were open as usual yesterday, and will be "as long as they have product to sell," Trainor said.

Employees interviewed by the Herald said they had checked into work prior to the rally and planned to return after. "We were encouraged to go, but I made the decision on my own," said Ian Harcourt, a Brockton assistant store manager.

In a memo to employees Thursday in advance of the rally, new co-CEOs Felicia Thornton and Jim Gooch warned, "If you choose to abandon your job or refuse to perform your job requirements, you will leave us no choice but to permanently replace you."

Harcourt said he was "more worried about losing the company if I didn't come here."

Spokeswomen for the CEOs and board did not respond to Herald inquiries.

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Airlines symbolize nations' hopes or reflect shame

NEW YORK — The jetliner is much more than a machine used to get from one spot to another. It often carries deep symbolism, especially when flying for a national airline.

It can represent hope, modernity and a country's power. And when things go wrong it, that once mighty plane can bring about deep national disgrace.

Malaysia now finds itself grappling with the horrific — and extremely unusual — loss of two of its airplanes, just four months apart. It's a sad coincidence that also stings.

"It is unbelievable misfortune that struck (Malaysia Airlines) in such a short span of time. It will not affect Malaysia's name, but it will damage MAS' reputation," said James Chin, political analyst at Monash University in Malaysia. He said it would be tough for the loss-making airline to survive the twin catastrophes.

The shooting down of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 on Thursday over Ukraine comes just 131 days after the disappearance of Flight 370. That Boeing 777 is presumed to be on the floor of the Indian Ocean but, without any scrap of wreckage found, it remains the key to one of the biggest aviation mysteries.

Fair or not, the back-to-back incidents have led travelers to question the safety of flying Malaysia Airlines. Malaysian officials were widely criticized for how they handled the search for Flight 370.

"Airlines symbolize the nation and are ambassadors," says Chris Sloan, who runs the aviation history and news website Airchive.com. "Airlines tend to reflect the values of their countries."

Even before this year's two disasters, Malaysia Airlines had deep financial troubles, losing $370 million last year. That 6.2-percent net loss was among the worst in the global industry, according to industry newsletter Airline Weekly. Most of the world's other airlines had a great year, posting an average profit of 4.7 percent.

"When an airline has the kind of issues that Malaysia has, it becomes a national shame," Sloan added.

Americans have come to despise their own airlines, annoyed by invasive airport security, packed overhead bins and a lack of legroom. But in other parts of the world, the public takes great pride in national carriers.

"They like to go to the airport and see these great, glistening modern jet airplanes with the flag of their country on it," says Robert Gandt, who spent 34 years as an airline pilot and has written 15 books including "Skygods," an account of the demise of Pan Am.

The giant pre-war route maps of European national carriers like KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and Air France were proclamations of those countries' colonial might. The airlines often carried domineering names, like Imperial Airways, a precursor to British Airways.

"What better description is there for its purpose? It was to help keep the empire united," says F. Robert van der Linden, chair and curator of air transportation at the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum.

In the 1970s, long after their empires fell, Great Britain and France teamed up to create the world's fastest passenger jet. The supersonic Concorde wasn't always profitable but that didn't matter — the jet showed that the two nations were still players on the world stage.

That theme can extend to whole airlines. Italian carrier Alitalia shouldn't even exist any longer, given its abysmal financial performance, says airline consultant George Hamlin. But the government has repeatedly bailed it out.

"That has to do with national pride, more than anything else," Hamlin says.

That deep connection between people and their national carrier also works against an airline when somebody wishes to harm their country. For decades, the carrier El Al has been a target of anti-Israel attacks.

The United States never had a national passenger airline, but Pan Am was long considered its unofficial carrier. The airline was viewed as an extension of the U.S. government, van der Linden says, so in countries without an American embassy or consulate, people in trouble would go to the Pan Am ticket office.

That relationship is why Libyans targeted the airline in a bombing over the Scottish town of Lockerbie in 1988. Many of those killed were American college students flying home for Christmas.

The 9/11 terrorists hijacked American Airlines and United Airlines planes, in part, because of their representation of the country as a whole.

"They didn't choose an airline that didn't have some hint of The United States of America in its name," van der Linden says.

It doesn't always take a crash to stir a nation's emotions.

Last year's mechanical problems with the Boeing 787 Dreamliner brought embarrassment to Japan, which was proud to have engineered the plane's electrical systems and to be the first to fly the jet.

Planes are seen as critical lifelines after a hurricane or earthquake, bringing in humanitarian workers, food, water and medical supplies. But it's those same civilian aircraft which are used to carry troops to and from battle zones.

Planes used by heads of state — such as Air Force One or a jet borrowed from the national airline — also serve as tools of diplomacy and propaganda. Giant red carpet arrivals, with military bands playing, are meant to show off a country's power.

"They are the ultimate stage props," says Henry Harteveldt, a travel industry analyst with Atmosphere Research Group.

Ultimately, as a traveler, there's something familiar and comforting about flying your country's own airline, says Janet Bednarek, an aviation history professor at the University of Dayton. The flight attendants speak your language and serve your food.

"It's that little piece of home," she says, "that you take with you when you fly abroad."

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Scott Mayerowitz can be reached at http://twitter.com/GlobeTrotScott.

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Obama: US must retrain workers who lose jobs

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama says all American workers deserve to know that if they lose their jobs, their country will help them train for a better one.

In his weekly radio and Internet address, Obama says Congress has taken steps in the right direction by approving job-training legislation. But he says there's much more the U.S. can do for the middle class and those aspiring to join it.

Obama says Vice President Joe Biden next week will release a report on how the U.S. can improve its job-training system. The president says he'll visit a Los Angeles community college where workers are being retrained for jobs in health care.

In the Republican address, Rep. Steve Scalise of Louisiana says Obama should encourage Senate Democrats to pass House-approved bills to put Americans back to work.

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Online:

Obama address: www.whitehouse.gov

GOP address: www.gop.gov

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US states with higher minimum wages gain more jobs

WASHINGTON — Hiring data released for individual states suggests raising the minimum wage has an upside.

The 13 U.S. states that raised their minimum wages at the beginning of this year are adding jobs at a faster pace than those that did not. The data provides some counter-intuitive fuel to the debate over what impact a higher minimum has on hiring trends.

Many business groups argue that raising the minimum wage discourages job growth by increasing the cost of hiring. A Congressional Budget Office report earlier this year lent some support for that view.

But the state-by-state hiring data, released yesterday by the Labor Department, provides ammunition to those who disagree. Economists who support a higher minimum say the figures acknowledge the data doesn't establish a cause and effect.

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Axed Nokia X phones suffered from lack of identity

NEW YORK — The Nokia X phones that Microsoft discontinued this week blend two rival operating systems, but leave out the best of each.

As a result, the devices didn't become a runaway hit as Nokia's low-cost answer to serving emerging markets.

Nokia X phones were devised to be a gateway to the company's pricier Lumia phones. The operating system that runs the phones was to blend the core technology found in Google's Android system with services and designs found in Microsoft's own Windows Phone system. Nokia looked to Android as a way to sell phones with locally tailored apps unavailable on Windows.

But Microsoft completed its deal to buy Nokia's phone business in April, and Nokia X is gone less than three months later.

"Nokia tried to bring the best of both worlds on this device, but once you play around with it, this phone kind of falls short of how fantastic it could be," said Ramon Llamas, an IDC analyst who follows phones.

Although sales figures aren't available, Llamas said his research showed Nokia X was "not the one that everybody seems to be flocking to."

The Nokia X project is an example of clashing priorities that Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is trying to curb with a refocusing effort that includes 18,000 job eliminations over the next year. In Thursday's announcement of the cuts, Microsoft said it will shift future Nokia X product designs to its Lumia line of Windows devices.

Although Microsoft Devices chief and former Nokia CEO Stephen Elop pinned the move on a need to align Nokia's strategy with Microsoft's, two other factors contributed to the downfall: Nokia X lacked an identity, while Windows got better.

Now, Microsoft is left to target emerging markets with Windows alone.

Nokia and Microsoft had been partners long before Microsoft bought the phone business. To maintain the relationship, Nokia sought to appease Microsoft by replacing many of the Google services on Android with Microsoft's services. Android staples such as Gmail, Google Maps and Google's app store are nowhere to be found. Instead, Nokia X phones have Here Maps from Nokia and Skype and OneDrive from Microsoft. The Nokia X home screen looks nothing like Android, but resembles Windows.

The thinking was that once Nokia X users were ready for higher-end phones, Lumia would be their choice because they are already accustomed to Microsoft services and designs.

But Nokia adapted Android so much that it affected functionality. Software developers had to tweak some of their apps because Nokia X lacks key Google services. For instance, location services have to use Nokia's Here rather than Google Maps. In-app payments also had to be tweaked to allow billing through mobile carriers, something Nokia X enabled because many people in emerging markets lack credit cards.

Meanwhile, even as Nokia adopted the look of Windows, it didn't adopt its ease of use. It was more like a knockoff version of Windows.

Windows devices set themselves apart by offering colorful home-screen tiles stuffed with content. Instead of just a logo of Facebook, for instance, you get the first several words of notifications. For email, you get the email's sender and the start of the subject line, so users know whether there's anything worth opening the app for. Windows also lets you create tiles to serve as shortcuts to specific tasks within apps — such as places you go often using the mapping app.

Nokia X has none of that. Its home-screen tiles are static, like overblown versions of Android icons.

Now, Llamas said, Microsoft is under even more pressure to succeed with Windows in emerging markets. Although recent improvements help, he said, many phone makers by now have settled on Android for cheaper devices.

Nokia X did succeed at keeping prices low. Its four models range from $120 to $150. By contrast, Nokia's Lumia Icon costs $550 without subsidies that come with two-year service contracts. Apple's iPhone 5s and Samsung's Galaxy S5 cost even more.

In killing Nokia X, Microsoft isn't changing Nokia's commitment to serving emerging markets. Microsoft knows those regions are high-growth areas, as many people in the United States and other industrialized markets already have smartphones. Microsoft is also aware that those devices need to be affordable.

The day before Nokia announced its Android phones at a February wireless show in Barcelona, Spain, Microsoft unveiled plans to update its Windows Phone system. Among other things, the software runs more efficiently, so it doesn't require as much processing power. That update, Windows Phone 8.1, came out in May. Microsoft also began giving the Windows software to phone makers for free, the way Google has with Android. And it relaxed requirements for physical buttons. All that has made Windows phones cheaper to make.

The Nokia X phones do have some good touches, including slots for two SIM cards — something important for emerging markets, where phone rates vary so much that people often switch services depending on whom they are calling or texting. Windows didn't allow that until the May update.

The improvements made to Windows ultimately reduced the need for Nokia X. But even if that hadn't happened, it was doubtful Nokia X would have survived under new owners.

In his memo, Elop pointed out that "the role of phones within Microsoft is different than it was within Nokia."

Nokia's business had been to make phones. With Microsoft, the phones are a way to showcase the company's other offerings in services and software, including the Windows Phone system.

And Nokia X had no role in that.

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Cutting-edge condos dock in Eastie

An unlikely team of a developer and a contractor from Revere and a Harvard-trained architect is bringing cutting-edge lofts to the East Boston waterfront.

The Marginal Street Lofts, which are adjacent to the Boston Harbor Shipyard & Marina in Jeffries Point, are the first new Eastie water­front condos in decades.

The contemporary design by Elizabeth Whittaker of Boston's Merge Architects has an unexpected exterior — black corrugated metal, red cedar planks and steel-boxed exterior frames with sides wrapped in stainless-steel mesh. Large front windows maximize un­obstructed views of Boston Harbor from all units.

The nine one-bedroom condos, which are 1,126 to 1,191 square feet, cost $549,000 to $679,000. The higher-priced, upper-floor units have private roof decks with harbor views. Each unit comes with a garage space under the building.

"We're hoping this captures the demographic of Boston buyers who don't want to pay $1 million for a condo with the same square footage as our units, but without views and without parking," Whittaker said.

Revere contractor Anthony DelVecchio, who built some commercial work that Whittaker designed, recommended her to Revere developer Michele Catalano of Tay's Realty LLC.

"I was a little gun-shy about the design, but now that it's done I think it's beautiful," Catalano said.

Realtor Paul Campano brought Catalano the three-lot site, where the developer could have built a row of three-families. But Campano, whose niche is unique properties, prevailed on her to be open-minded about a more contemporary design.

"High design and high quality sell," said Campano of Keller Williams.

Trying to put nine units on a tight site required building up and over central corridors to access rear-facing bedrooms.

"It was a challenge to build, something completely out of the box compared to the work we normally do," said DelVecchio. "It takes more time and it's more expensive."

Units have different configurations. Unit 3, on the market for $599,000, has a kitchen/dining area that steps up to a living room with harbor views. Another half flight up leads to a loft-style bedroom.

Unit 9 has a large open kitchen/living/dining area overlooking the harbor and a rear-facing bedroom. This unit and three others have 500-square-foot private roof decks.

Kitchens have quartz or honed-granite countertops, KraftMaid or Ikea cabinets, GE Cafe stainless-steel appliances and Grohe faucets. Living rooms have built-in gas fireplaces. Bathrooms have porcelain tile floors and white tiled tub and showers. There are white oak floors throughout.

Whittaker, who also teaches­ at Harvard's Graduate School of Design, said the Jeffries Point neighborhood and the Boston Re­development Authority were supportive of her design, and she hopes the project will lead to more contemporary design and perhaps a future brand for Catalano's projects.

"I'm a hands-on devel­oper, on site every day," said Catalano. "It's taken a lot of work to get this done but it's come out looking just like the renderings."

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BRA blasted for failing to collect rents

The BRA and one of its affiliates — owed a combined $5.6 million in outstanding rent as of April, according to a recent audit — were criticized yesterday as lenient landlords that are far too "cozy" with the businesses that lease space from the agencies.

But several tenants defended the Boston Redevelopment Authority and its offshoot, the Economic Development Industrial Corp., saying their mission is to promote business growth.

Former state Inspector General Gregory W. Sullivan, a longtime BRA critic, said the agency has an obligation to Boston taxpayers to manage its assets and collect the money due.

"The BRA has a dismal record of collecting the full amount due from its licensees and grantees," said Sullivan, now the research director at the Pioneer Institute. "What we have been seeing is that the BRA is way too cozy with business owners, and they cut them slack and coddle them and do everything but what they are supposed to be doing, which is to get value for the taxpayers... It's an outrage."

But Michael Labadie, president of National Color, a printing company that is behind on its rent for space in the EDIC-controlled Boston Marine Industrial Park, said carping on unpaid rent misses the point.

"It's tough to be a manufacturing company in Boston right now," Labadie said. "I think people do get behind in their rent, and they do try to work with people. The whole program was instituted to keep manufacturing jobs in Boston."

According to the KMPG audit of the BRA released Wednesday, National Color owed the EDIC $93,118 as of April, but the BRA said yesterday the amount in back rent now stands at $24,874.

The audit also contended that as of April, Geekhouse Bike owed the EDIC $86,162, of which $62,704 was 90 days past due. The BRA said yesterday the rent that is three months past due has climbed to $86,162.

Geekhouse owner Marty Walsh said the debt applies to a separate company he owns, Headquarters Boston, that rents EDIC space on Channel Street.

"We're on the right track now ... but we got behind, and now we're trying to fix it," he said. "The BRA is working with us. They want us to stay here and do well."

The two companies are among more than a dozen the audit highlighted for owing the BRA and EDIC large amounts. Copy Cop, a print shop, as of April owed $213,859, of which $197,658 is now 90 days past due; while Pappas Enterprises, a real estate developer, owes $295,908, all of it 90 days past due. Neither company returned messages.

The auditors criticized the BRA for lacking a policy to deal with delinquent tenants and a process to evict them.

"We are trying to support businesses and don't want to force anyone out before negotiating an agreement (on back rent)," said BRA spokesman Nicholas Martin. "But at the same time it's clear there was a lack of a standardized protocol on what do to in these situations where the rent goes unpaid for so long."

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Market Basket workers to protest CEO firing

TEWKSBURY  — Some workers at the Market Basket supermarket chain are expected to walk off the job at the company's Tewksbury headquarters in a show of support for their fired boss.

Employees loyal to former CEO Arthur T. Demoulas pressed for his reinstatement in a letter that had a Thursday afternoon deadline.

The new CEOs, Felicia Thornton and Jim Gooch, said in a letter to workers Thursday that those who walk away from their jobs could be fired.

Demoulas, a member of the family that owns the privately held chain, lost his job in a long-running battle with a cousin for control.

Thorton and Gooch said the power to reinstate Demoulas lies with the board that fired him in June. The board plans a telephone conference Monday to discuss the workers' demand. Employee representatives were invited.

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Amazon rolls out 'Netflix-for-books' style service

NEW YORK — Amazon is rolling out a new subscription service that will allow unlimited access to thousands of electronic books and audiobooks for $9.99 a month in the online giant's latest effort to expand its services to attract more users.

The company said Friday that the Kindle Unlimited service will give users the ability to read as much as they want from more than 600,000 Kindle titles such as "The Hunger Games" and "Diary of a Wimpy Kid." They can also listen as much as they want to thousands of Audible audiobooks, including "Water for Elephants."

About 2,000 audiobooks from Audible with Whispersync for Voice, which lets users switch between reading and listening to books, will be available through the service. Subscribers will get a free three-month membership to the broader Audible service, which has 150,000 titles.

Amazon is offering a free 30-day trial to entice users to try the service. The move is a switch from Amazon's latest efforts, which have all been about adding services to its Prime loyalty program. The company has recently launched a video streaming box and grocery delivery service, unveiled plans for a smartphone and expanded its Sunday delivery service, all for members of Prime. But Kindle Unlimited is for anyone with a Kindle device or app who wants to subscribe.

The move comes at an uneasy time for Amazon and its relationship with publishers, because it has been in a public squabble with Hachette over e-book prices. The terms that Amazon worked out with the publishers who are part of Kindle Unlimited was not disclosed.

Seattle-based Amazon is not the first company to offer a "Netflix for books"-style monthly service: Scribd offers a service for $8.99 a month for access to 400,000 books. Oyster offers 500,000 books for $9.95 a month. Both services offer HarperCollins books, among other publishers.

But Amazon is the biggest company to roll out the service and has the advantage of having a dedicated base of users through its Kindle devices and Kindle app, which runs on most wireless devices.

A Kindle Unlimited logo will be attached to eligible titles. The subscription service is available beginning Friday and is accessible via Kindle devices or with Amazon's free Kindle reading apps.

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After hybrid success, Toyota gambles on fuel cell

TOKYO — Rocket science long dismissed as too impractical and expensive for everyday cars is getting a push into the mainstream by Toyota, the world's top-selling automaker.

Buoyed by its success with electric-gasoline hybrid vehicles, Toyota is betting that drivers will embrace hydrogen fuel cells, an even cleaner technology that runs on the energy created by an electrochemical reaction when oxygen in the air combines with hydrogen stored as fuel.

Unlike internal combustion engines which power most vehicles on roads today, a pure hydrogen fuel cell emits no exhaust, only some heat and a trickle of pure water. Fuel cells also boast greater efficiency than the internal combustion process, which expends about two-thirds of the energy in gasoline as heat.

Toyota's fuel cell car will go on sale before April next year. Despite advantages that are seemingly compelling, the technology has struggled to move beyond its prototypes after several decades of research and development by industry and backing from governments.

For the auto industry in particular, there have been significant hurdles to commercialization including the prohibitive expense of such vehicles. On top of that, fueling stations are almost nonexistent. Doubters also quibble about the green credentials of fuel cells because hydrogen is produced from fossil fuels.

But Satoshi Ogiso, the engineer leading the Toyota project, is confident there's a market that will grow in significance over time.

Part of Ogiso's optimism stems from his background. He worked for 20 years on Toyota's Prius hybrid.

The Prius, which has an electric motor in addition to a regular gasoline engine, was met with extreme skepticism at the start. But it went on to win over the public as a stylish way to limit the environmental damage of motoring. Worldwide sales of Toyota's hybrids have topped 6 million vehicles since their debut in 1997.

"The environment has become an ever more pressing problem than in 1997," Ogiso said in an interview at the automaker's Tokyo office.

"Hydrogen marks an even bigger step than a hybrid. It is our proposal for a totally new kind of car. If you want to experience this new world, if you want to go green, this is it."

Toyota, which began working on fuel cells in 1992 but won't disclose how much it has invested, is not the first automaker to produce such a vehicle. Forklifts powered by fuel cells are becoming more common in factories and fuel cell buses have been trialed in some cities. General Motors Co. has also been working on the technology and Honda Motor Co. already sells the FCX Clarity fuel cell sedan in limited numbers and is planning a new fuel cell car, with a more powerful fuel cell stack, next year.

But Toyota's decision as the world's top-selling automaker to start commercial production of a fuel cell car is an important boost to the technology's prospects for wider adoption. Its release will also win the automaker plaudits for corporate responsibility.

"It works to symbolically enhance the automaker's ecological image," said Yoshihiro Okumura, auto analyst at Chiba-gin Asset Management.

Toyota's still-to-be-officially-named vehicle goes on sale in Japan sometime before April 2015, and within a half year after that in the U.S. and Europe.

The four-seater sedan, while sporting an aggressive grille and fluid body curves, looks pretty much like a regular car. Those who have test driven fuel cell vehicles say they have a powerful torque, with quick acceleration, akin to the thrill of driving a sports car. Yet they are quiet like electric cars, purring on the roads with no engine roar.

Ogiso, like many other experts, believes that reliance on gasoline is not sustainable in the long-run particularly with rapid growth in vehicle ownership in developing nations, which could translate into hundreds of millions of additional cars on the roads globally.

Working on the Prius and the fuel cell, he said, was a similar process: Painstakingly tackling the challenge of packaging all the special parts needed for a new type of car.

Like the initial years of the Prius, subsidies and tax breaks are expected to substantially lower the fuel cell price tag in Japan.

Ogiso said at the beginning it cost more than 100 million ($1 million) to build just a test car.

The planned commercial model will sell for about 7 million yen ($70,000). Initially, Toyota had said the car might cost as much as 10 million yen ($100,000). Overseas prices have not yet been announced.

Factoring in subsidies and tax breaks, buyers might be able to get the fuel cell for about 5 million yen ($50,000), said Okumura, the Chiba-gin analyst.

That is still more than double the Prius, which with no frills sells for a little above 2 million yen ($20,000). It no longer gets green subsidies but still is eligible for a 100,000 yen ($1,000) tax break in Japan. Plug-in versions, which sell for nearly 3 million yen ($30,000), get bigger discounts, totaling as much as 420,000 yen ($4,200).

Toyota has not given sales projections but says interest in the fuel cell has been strong.

Apart from cost, the other big drawback is lack of hydrogen fueling stations. Only about 30 of them exist throughout Japan so far, although the government is leading a push to get more built in coming months.

Lack of charging stations is also a weakness for electric cars but there are fewer obstacles to establishing and supplying that infrastructure because electricity networks are already in place.

That is one of the reasons why automakers such as Nissan Motor Co. and Tesla Motors are pushing electric vehicles as the most practical way to be a green driver.

"We are a little bit skeptical," Nissan CEO Carlos Ghosn said of fuel cells. "Who's going to build the infrastructure?"

Selling 500 or 1,000 fuel cell vehicles a year might be easy, but getting sales to mass levels, such as 500,000 vehicles or more a year, would be difficult, he said.

Toyota, however, counters that electric cars tend to have limited cruise ranges, relegating them to a niche. Hydrogen fueling takes only three minutes versus several hours to charge an electric vehicle.

The planned fuel cell runs about 700 kilometers (430 miles) on a single hydrogen fueling.

Toru Hatano, auto analyst at IHS Automotive in Tokyo overseeing powertrains, forecasts that only several thousand fuel cell cars will sell per year globally.

"There really isn't anything good that happens for the consumer by getting a fuel cell," he said, compared with a hybrid's savings on gas consumption.

Beyond that, Hatano said hydrogen is now mostly produced from fossil fuels.

"You are using energy to create hydrogen, and then using more energy to pressurize it for storage, and so overall you aren't saving on energy at all."

But scientists are working on cleaner ways to make hydrogen, and in theory hydrogen is cheap, plentiful and possibly the next-generation fuel for motorists.

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On YouTube: http://youtu.be/98CidXDLuH8

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Follow Yuri Kageyama on Twitter at twitter.com/yurikageyama

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$1B convention center expansion bill approved

BOSTON — The Massachusetts House and Senate have approved a compromise version of a bill that would allow for a $1 billion expansion of the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center.

Supporters of the bill say it is necessary to keep the facility competitive with similar convention centers in other cities, and the expansion will create jobs, provide additional tax dollars and boost tourism.

The bill authorizes a 1.3 million square foot expansion.

Supporters said the convention center in South Boston, which opened in 1997, isn't large enough and doesn't have enough adjoining hotel rooms to attract many large-scale national and international meetings, which are now going to other cities.

The bill still needs a final vote in both chambers before being sent to Gov. Deval Patrick for his signature.

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Dow hits 2nd record close in July

The Dow Jones industrial average surged to its second record close this month as major stock indexes rebounded yesterday.

The Dow added 77.52 points to close at 17,138.20. Its previous record high was 17,068.65, set July 3.

Investors had lots of market-moving news to consider, but trading appeared to get the biggest jolt from the latest batch of corporate deal news.

Investors drove Time Warner's stock up 17 percent on news that Twenty-First Century Fox made a takeover bid for the media giant. Other deals involving Apple and IBM as well as slot machine maker International Game Technology also helped lift the market.

"It's a continuation of what we've really been seeing this year, and it's almost a record amount of (mergers and acquisitions) going on," said David 
Chalupnik, head of equities at Nuveen Asset Management.

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Global stocks down ahead of US data, earnings

SEOUL, South Korea — European stocks were lower after most Asian markets abandoned modest gains Thursday ahead of U.S. economic data and corporate earnings reports.

Stock markets are at lofty heights, making investors nervous a corrective sell-off is looming, particularly as the U.S. Federal Reserve edges toward its first interest rate hike since the Great Recession. The Dow Jones industrial average hit yet another record on Wednesday. The strong performance of Wall Street indexes is at odds with the modest growth prospects of the U.S. economy and the same contradiction also prevails in Europe and parts of Asia.

In early European trading, Britain's FTSE 100 was down 0.4 percent to 6,759.68 and France's CAC 40 dipped 0.5 percent to 4,349.28. Germany's DAX fell 0.3 percent to 9,830.25.

U.S markets were also headed for a lukewarm day. Dow Jones futures inched down 0.2 percent and S&P 500 futures dropped 0.4 percent.

For the rest of the week, earnings reports from Google and IBM are key events on the corporate side. Investors had cheered Intel's report of a 40-percent jump in its bottom line, a sign of recovery in PC demand.

The U.S. government is also set to release economic data including unemployment claims and home construction.

Earlier in Asia, most of the region's markets finished in negative territory or were little changed.

Tokyo's Nikkei 225 closed 0.1 percent lower at 15,370.26 and China Shanghai Composite declined 0.6 percent to 2,055.59. Hong Kong's Hang Seng and Sydney's S&P/ASX 200 were little changed.

South Korea was the only major market that finished higher. The Kospi in Seoul rose 0.4 percent to 2,020.90. The market was boosted by expectations that the country's new pro-growth finance minister would introduce measures to ease housing market regulations and encourage domestic spending.

The escalation of the U.S. sanctions against Russia appeared to have no immediate impact on stock markets, although the move hit Russian stocks.

The new rounds of U.S. sanctions targeted two major energy firms, a pair of powerful financial institutions, eight weapons firms and four individuals. The U.S. penalties are meant to increase pressure to end the insurgency in eastern Ukraine believed to be supported by Moscow.

In energy trading, benchmark U.S. crude for August delivery was up 91 cents at $102.11 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract added $1.24 to settle at $101.20 on Thursday.

In currencies, the euro gained to $1.3535 from $1.3528. The dollar fell to 101.48 yen from 101.65 yen late Wednesday.

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Microsoft to cut up to 18,000 jobs over next year

REDMOND, Wash. — Microsoft is cutting up to 18,000 jobs, about 14 percent of its staff, over the next year as it works on integrating the Nokia devices business it bought in April and cut down on management layers.

The news sent shares up 3 percent in premarket trading.

It's the boldest move by CEO Satya Nadella since he took the reins from Steve Ballmer in February. In a public email to employees on Thursday, he said the changes were needed "become more agile and move faster."

Of the 18,000 job cuts, about 12,500 professional and factory jobs will be cut. Microsoft expects charges of $1.1 billion to $1.6 billion over the next four quarters, which includes $750 million to $800 million for severance and related benefit costs.

Microsoft has been shifting its focus from traditional PC software to cloud computing and cloud-based products like its Office 365 productivity software.

In a blog posting a week ago, Nadella hinted at the move, saying Microsoft had to "change and evolve" its culture for the "mobile-first and cloud-first world."

Nadella said Thursday he would give more details when Redmond, Wash.-based Microsoft reports fiscal 2014 results on Tuesday.

Shares of Microsoft rose $1.35, or 3.1 percent, to $45.43 in premarket trading. The stock is up nearly 18 percent since the beginning of the year.

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Higher gasoline costs raise US producer prices

WASHINGTON — Rising gasoline costs pushed up the prices U.S. companies receive for their goods and services in June, but overall inflation remains tame.

The Labor Department said Wednesday that the producer price index, which measures the cost of goods and services before they reach the consumer, rose 0.4 percent last month. The increase follows a 0.2 percent decrease in May.

Gas costs rose 6.4 percent in June. Steel prices shot up 3 percent. But prices fell for grains, cheese and rental cars to offset some of those increases.

In the past 12 months, producer prices have risen 1.9 percent, roughly in line with the Federal Reserve's inflation target of 2 percent.

But inflation appears unlikely to accelerate based on producer prices. Crude oil prices have fallen in July, after surging last month on reports of Iraq being destabilized by the Sunni militia known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.

"Nothing here is going to worry the Fed, particularly not when crude oil prices have most recently fallen back," said Paul Ashworth, chief US economist at Capital Economics.

Consumer prices have tended to track the costs for producers. They rose in May in response to food and energy costs increasing earlier in the year for wholesalers. Consumer prices rose 2.1 percent in May compared to the year prior.

Retailer and wholesaler profit margins increased 0.2 percent in June. Excluding the volatile food, energy and profit margin categories, core producer prices were up 0.2 percent last month.

The Fed targets inflation at about 2 percent as a guard against deflation, which can drag down wages and spark a recession. At the same time, the Fed wants to avoid excessive inflation and protect consumers and the purchasing power of the dollar.

Low inflation should provide a foundation for consumers to spend, but it also reflects the weak recovery from the Great Recession that is now entering its sixth year. Businesses are reluctant to raise their prices, if their customers lack the income to afford their goods and services.

Wage growth has been meager and unemployment, now at 6.1 percent, has been slow to recede since the recession. That has limited consumer spending, which accounts for about 70 percent of all economic activity.

Still, low inflation has enabled the Fed to pursue extraordinary measures to boost the economy. This includes holding shorter-term interest rates near zero and purchasing bonds to depress longer-term interest rates. It has begun to unwind some of those measures, cutting its monthly bond-buying program to $35 billion from $85 billion last year.

Those bond purchases had ensured low interest rates that encouraged investors to pour money into the economy.

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France battles against bad restaurant food

PARIS — Restaurant-goers in France will start seeing a funny little symbol on their menus this week: a skillet with a house on top, indicating your menu choice is made in-house.

It's part of a new law meant to battle against the surprising amount of factory-made, pre-packaged food in French restaurants, and celebrate the country's culinary traditions.

However, many in the industry say the law doesn't go far enough, because it allows dishes made from frozen, pre-peeled or pre-cut products to count as home-made.

France's chief of consumer affairs, Carole Delga, told The Associated Press that the logo would better inform customers about what they're getting, and highlight restaurants' craftsmanship.

"It's about sending a message that France is a country where we eat well, where we have skills, especially cooking skills," she said. "We wanted to give concrete tools for tourists and for French people, and recognize cooking as an integral part of our French identity."

While UNESCO put French cuisine on its World Heritage List in 2010, two recessions in recent years have driven more and more French chefs to resort to pre-packaged food to cut costs. And France is a champion of industrial food, with companies specialized in frozen foods or dishes that can be prepared quickly and look homemade.

Alain Dutournier, cook and spokesman for the Culinary College of France, a non-profit supporting French gastronomy, is among those who think the law makes it too easy for restaurants to claim a dish is home-made.

"It's really not very serious. I thought it would be more rigorous and precise," he said. "Once again they are choosing to serve the interest of the food-processing industry."

Diners at Crom'Exquis, a restaurant in Paris' 8th arrondissement, gave the new law mixed reviews. Anne-Laure Bernard called it "a great tool."

There is an exception for potatoes. Dubbed by French media the "McDonald's exception," it means that no one making French fries out of pre-peeled potatoes can claim to be "home-made."

Parliament approved the law March 17, and it came into effect this week. Restaurants and catering companies have until Jan. 1 to adapt their menus.

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BMW recalls 1.6M 3-Series cars for air bag problem

DETROIT — BMW is expanding a recall of its most popular models to fix a growing air bag problem that is hitting much of the auto industry.

The German automaker says it will recall 1.6 million 3-Series cars from model years 2000 to 2006 across the world, including 574,000 in the U.S.

The company says it's a precaution because other automakers using similar systems have reported problems.

Air bag inflators in systems made by Takata Corp. can rupture. If that happens, the bags might not work properly, and shards could fly out and cause injury.

BMW says it has no reports of problems in its vehicles. Dealers will replace the passenger-side front air bags. The new recall excludes 42,000 BMWs recalled in May 2013 for the same problem.

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Make room Juan Valdez: Starbucks opens in Colombia

BOGOTA, Colombia — Make room Juan Valdez, it's time to meet the black-aproned barista.

On Wednesday, Starbucks is making its much-anticipated debut in the country synonymous with coffee after years of roasting Colombia's Arabica beans for billions of java lovers the world over.

The three-floor coffee house in Bogota is the first of 50 that the Seattle-based company plans to open here in the next five years. In a nod to the country's proud coffee-growing tradition, it's also the only one in the world to serve exclusively locally-sourced coffee.

But will Colombians answer Starbucks' siren call and ditch a popular local chain bearing the bushy-whiskered coffee farmer's name?

Colombia's coffee federation, owner of the Juan Valdez chain, is outwardly welcoming the competition. The arrival of Starbucks it says will boost the market for gourmet java even if sales at its nearly 200 stores in Colombia take a hit over the short term

"There's room in the market for us both," said Alejandra Londono, head of international sales for the Colombian chain.

Juan Valdez's social mission promoting Colombian coffee and contributing to producers' welfare is likely to keep customers loyal, said Londono.

Since its founding 11 years ago, the Colombian chain has funneled more than $20 million to a national fund that supports the country's 560,000 coffee-growing families, some of whom also own shares in the company.

While Starbucks also has burnished its image for corporate responsibility, offering employees in the U.S. generous health care benefits and now online college courses, it's stayed clear of Colombia, Latin America's third largest economy, even as it has opened more than 700 stories in 12 other countries in the region. That may have been because it feared trampling on local sensibilities already hurt by the branding of coffee that leaves growers earning just a few pennies from every $4 venti latte sold.

Indeed, a desire to overcome the commodities curse is what's been driving the federation's focus on adding value up the retail chain, a strategy reflected in more sophisticated local coffee-drinking culture.

While known for exporting the world's finest beans, until recently Colombians' taste in coffee was quite provincial, relegated to a preference for heavily-sweetened, warmed-over black coffee known as tinto, which is sold nearly everywhere.

Across from where Starbucks is opening on a leafy park in north Bogota, office workers at a rival Juan Valdez seemed thrilled with the prospect of having a new option for their late-afternoon caffeine fix. Service at their local coffee house, they said, has been improving ever since Starbucks announced it was coming a year ago.

"I like Juan Valdez but it doesn't mean I'll never go to Starbucks just because I want to support our own," said Marcela Gomez, an architect. "A little healthy competition is good."

____

Follow Joshua Goodman on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/APjoshgoodman

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Fox confirms bid for Time Warner, says there are currently no talks under way

21st Century Fox confirmed a report that it made an offer to acquire Time Warner, but the media company said the offer was rejected and that there are no talks in progress.

"21st Century Fox can confirm that we made a formal proposal to Time Warner last month to combine the two companies," Fox said in a statement. "The Time Warner board of directors declined to pursue our proposal. We are not currently in any discussions with Time Warner."

Rupert Murdoch-led Fox made an unsolicited offer of $80 billion for Time Warner within the past few week, but the overture was turned down, the New York Times reported earlier Wednesday.

The combination of Fox with Time Warner -- an entity that would have annual revenue of about $65 billion -- would create a media powerhouse. It would bring under one roof assets that include movie studios 20th Century Fox and Warner Bros. and a portfolio of top-tier cable networks, including Fox News and FX, and Time Warner's HBO, TNT and TBS, as well as Fox Broadcasting and its sports networks and each company's international businesses.

A Time Warner rep did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Despite being rebuffed, Murdoch is "determined" to buy Time Warner and "is unlikely to walk away," the New York Times reported, citing anonymous sources involved in the talks.

Big media companies have been exploring mergers and acquisitions, in part to boost their leverage as large pay-TV operators combine. Comcast is in the process of acquiring Time Warner Cable, and AT&T has bid for DirecTV.

At the Allen & Co. media conference in Sun Valley last week, Time Warner CEO Jeff Bewkes was asked about Fox's rumored interest in acquiring the conglom, and he responded, "I know nothing about it."

Fox first approached Time Warner in early June, then made a formal offer of $85 per share in cash and stock for the company later in the month, according to the Times report. Under the proposed deal, Fox had said that it would sell CNN to "head off potential antitrust concerns" since Fox News Channel competes directly with CNN, the Times reported. CNN has been seen as a potential target for CBS and ABC.

Both companies have moved recently to separate their entertainment and publishing businesses. News Corp. last year spun off its publishing division (which retained the News Corp name) and renamed itself 21st Century Fox. Last month, Time Warner's Time Inc. magazine split off as a separate, publicly traded company.

In the talks, Fox has been advised by Goldman Sachs and Centerview Partners, while Time Warner advisers have included Citigroup, the Times reported.

(C) 2014 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

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Tobacco firm Reynolds American to buy Lorillard

RICHMOND, Va. — Cigarette maker Reynolds American Inc. is planning to buy rival Lorillard Inc. for about $25 billion in a deal to combine two of the nation's oldest and biggest tobacco companies.

The deal announced Tuesday would create a formidable No. 2 to rival Altria Group Inc., owner of Philip Morris USA, and will likely face scrutiny from regulators. It also could spur a wave of consolidation in the tobacco business, shrink factories and workforces, and push prices for cigarettes higher even as smokers buy fewer of them. The companies value the deal, which is expected to close in the first half of 2015, at about $27 billion including debt.

The companies said they will sell the Kool, Salem, Winston, Maverick and Blu eCigs brands to Imperial Tobacco Group for $7.1 billion to ease regulatory concerns about competition, tripling that company's share of the U.S. cigarette market. Imperial also will acquire Lorillard's manufacturing and research and development facilities in Greensboro, North Carolina, and about 2,900 employees. Imperial owns Fort Lauderdale, Florida-based Commonwealth-Altadis Inc., maker of USA Gold cigarettes.

The move allows Reynolds to keep its Camel, Pall Mall and Natural American Spirit brands and acquire Lorillard's flagship Newport brand, giving it a 34 percent share of the U.S. retail market. It also will give it a dominant place in the still-growing menthol cigarette segment, led by Newport's 37 percent retail share.

"We're very confident that this portfolio of strong, iconic brands lives together very well," Reynolds CEO Susan Cameron said in a conference call with investors.

Lorillard shareholders would receive $50.50 in cash for each share and 0.2909 of a share in Reynolds stock at closing, a deal that's valued by the companies at $68.88 per share.

The deal comes as demand for traditional cigarettes declines in the face of tax increases, smoking bans, health concerns and social stigma. U.S. cigarette sales fell about 2.6 percent last year to 285 billion cigarettes, according to market researcher Euromonitor International.

But raising prices and cutting business costs has kept the industry handsomely and reliably profitable. The companies also have cut costs to keep profits up, and the larger scale of a combined company could make future cost-cutting easier. Reynolds expects to save about $800 million a year in costs.

The next step for tobacco companies is an increased focus on cigarette alternatives — such as electronic cigarettes, cigars and smokeless tobacco — for sales growth.

In addition to its cigarette brands, Reynolds, based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, markets Grizzly and Kodiak smokeless tobacco brands and also expanded its Vuse brand e-cigarette nationally last month. It has about 5,200 full-time employees and produces its cigarettes at its 2 million-square-foot Tobaccoville, North Carolina, plant. Reynolds' profit rose 35 percent to $1.72 billion last year on revenue of $8.24 billion, excluding excise taxes.

Lorillard, which was founded before the Revolutionary War and is the oldest continuously operating U.S. tobacco company, was spun off from Loews Corp. in 2008. It became the first major tobacco company to jump into the e-cigarette market when it acquired the Blu e-cigarette brand in 2012. Blu now accounts for almost half of all e-cigarettes sold. Lorillard's profit rose 8.5 percent to $1.19 billion last year on revenue of $4.97 billion, excluding excise taxes.

The combined company would challenge Richmond, Virginia-based Altria, which holds about half of the retail cigarette market, led by its top-selling Marlboro brand. It also sells Black & Mild cigars, Copenhagen and Skoal smokeless tobacco and is expanding MarkTen e-cigarette brand nationally.

Altria, Reynolds American and Lorillard all sell cigarettes only in the U.S. Other companies sell their brands overseas.

The companies said British American Tobacco PLC, which makes Kent and Dunhill cigarettes overseas will maintain its 42 percent stake in Reynolds, and Lorillard shareholders will hold a 15 percent stake. Reynolds and British American Tobacco also agreed to share technology related to the development and commercialization of next-generation tobacco products, including heat-not-burn cigarettes and other nicotine-delivery products.

Lorillard's stock fell $3.62 to $63.60 in premarket trading. Reynolds' stock fell $1.58 to $61.60.

___

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

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Goldman Sachs posts higher profit and revenue

NEW YORK — Goldman Sachs said Tuesday that its quarterly profit rose 5 percent helped by record results from investment banking.

Second-quarter net income rose to $1.95 billion from $1.86 billion a year earlier, the bank said early Tuesday. That's after paying dividends on preferred stock.

Revenue increased 6 percent to $9.13 billion over the year. That was much better than the $7.97 billion analysts had expected, according to the data provider FactSet. Goldman reported a record $1.28 billion in revenue for helping companies sell stocks and bonds, up 20 percent from the same period a year ago.

On a per-share basis, quarterly earnings were $4.10, handily beating analysts' forecasts of $3.05.

Analysts had expected weak revenue from trading stock and bonds to hamper the New York investment bank's results.

Compensation, the bank's biggest single cost, was $3.9 billion, up 6 percent from the year before.

Goldman's stock climbed $3.18, or 2.5 percent, to $170.25 in premarket trading.

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Federal Reserve's Yellen giving Congress good news

WASHINGTON — Federal Reserve Chairwoman Janet Yellen will have some good news to tell Congress this week about the health of the labor market. But lawmakers will likely press her to provide more information on just how the central bank intends to react to the good news.

Yellen is scheduled to deliver the Fed's twice-a-year report to Congress on interest-rate policy and the economy. She testifies before the Senate Banking Committee on Tuesday and will follow that with testimony Wednesday before the House Financial Services Committee.

She delivered her first monetary report to Congress in February, just a week after being sworn in to succeed Ben Bernanke as the first woman to head the central bank.

While unemployment stood at 6.7 percent in February, it has now fallen to 6.1 percent, the lowest point since September 2008, reflecting strong job growth in recent months. The economy has created an average of more than 200,000 jobs a month over the past five months, the strongest stretch since the late 1990s.

That will be the good news that Yellen will relate. But lawmakers are certain to quiz her about what the performance of the labor market will mean for the Fed's handling of interest rates in coming months.

In recent comments, Yellen has stressed that while jobs are now being produced at a faster clip, the economy still needs the Fed's help in the form of low interest rates because a variety of indicators, from measures of long-term unemployed to wage growth, still remain weak.

Yellen's comments will be followed closely to see whether there are any shifts in her view that inflation, while rising at a slightly faster pace than back in February, remains low with no danger that it is about to get out of hand.

The Fed's twin goals are to promote maximum employment while keeping inflation under control.

Lawmakers will want to hear Yellen's views on both goals and on related subjects such as whether she has any concerns that the Fed's prolonged period of low interest rates could be setting the stage for financial instability once the central bank starts raising rates.

And lawmakers will also be looking for insights on how the Fed plans to unwind its massive holdings of Treasury bonds and mortgage-backed securities, which are approaching $4.5 trillion, more than four times the amount on the balance sheet when the financial crisis struck in the fall of 2008. The Fed's bond purchases were aimed at keeping long-term interest rates low to give the economy a boost.

Minutes of the Fed's June discussions released last week show that Fed officials are now in broad agreement that they will likely announce an end to their monthly bond-buying program in October with a final $15 billion reduction in the bond purchases.

The minutes showed that the Fed had a lengthy discussion on just how it planned to accomplish that reduction in its balance sheet. No final decisions were made, although officials expect to produce a plan before the end of this year.

The Fed has kept a key short-term interest rate at a record low near zero since December 2008. At its June meeting it kept language signaling that it plans to keep short-term rates low for a "considerable time" after the bond purchases end.

But the minutes showed there is a split between Fed officials who are still worried about low inflation and economic weakness and those concerned that the Fed may need to start raising interest rates more quickly than investors now expect.

Most private economists believe the Fed's first rate hike will not occur until next summer, although some believe the move could occur a few months sooner if the labor market continues to show healthy gains in employment.

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UK regulator imposes caps on payday loans

LONDON — Britain's financial regulator on Tuesday announced new limitations on what payday lenders can charge their customers, the latest step in moves to tackle poor conduct in the short-term credit industry.

The Financial Conduct Authority says Tuesday that from January, payday loan rates must not exceed a daily rate of 0.8 percent of the amount borrowed — significantly lower than what many lenders currently charge.

Default fees for borrowers who fail to repay on time should be capped at 15 pounds ($25.7) and customers must never have to pay back more in fees and interest than the amount borrowed.

That means that someone struggling with repayments on a 100-pound loan should never have to pay back more than 200 pounds.

Britain's payday loan industry has been under intense scrutiny amid anger over its poor regulation. Last month, the country's biggest payday lender, Wonga, was ordered to pay out 2.6 million pounds ($4.4 million) to compensate tens of thousands of customers for dishonest debt collection practices.

Last year, 1.6 million consumers in Britain took out 10 million loans, with a total value of 2.5 billion pounds.

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US retail sales tick up just 0.2 percent in June

WASHINGTON — U.S. retail sales increased slightly in June, evidence that consumers remain cautious despite steady job gains this year.

Retail sales rose just 0.2 percent last month, the Commerce Department said Tuesday, held back by a sharp drop at building materials and garden supply stores. Sales also fell at restaurants and at auto dealers.

The figures suggest that Americans are reluctant to spend freely, which could slow growth in the April-June quarter. While employers have stepped up hiring since January, wage growth remains weak and is barely keeping up with inflation. Retail sales are closely watched because consumer spending accounts for 70 percent of the economy.

Still, there were some good signs: A measure of retail sales that excludes volatile categories such as gasoline and autos rose at a solid 0.6 percent clip. Clothing stores, sporting goods stores and department stores all recorded sales gains. And a category that includes online and catalog retailers jumped 0.9 percent in June and has increased 8.1 percent in the past 12 months. That's nearly double the 4.3 percent growth in overall retail sales in the past year.

Sales at auto dealers fell 0.3 percent, which contradicts strong data released by the automakers themselves earlier this month. The automakers had said sales reached an eight-year high in June. The two sets of data can sometimes conflict on a month-to-month basis.

Retail sales were revised higher in May to 0.5 percent from 0.3 percent, and in April to 0.6 percent from 0.5 percent.

The data may raise concerns that the economy did not bounce back in the April-June quarter as strongly as many analysts hoped. The economy shrank 2.9 percent at an annual rate in the first three months of the year, largely because of cold weather.

Many economists have already cut their forecasts for the second quarter because they don't expect consumers to spend at a healthy pace. According to a survey by the National Association for Business Economics, analysts now forecast growth of 3 percent at an annual rate. That's down from a forecast of 3.5 percent a month earlier.

The economists surveyed expect consumer spending will grow at just a 2.3 percent pace in the April-June quarter, down from their June forecast of 2.9 percent. Spending rose just 1 percent in the first quarter, the smallest increase in four years.

Several retailers have reported disappointing sales in the past month. Family Dollar, the Container Store and the Gap have all blamed falling sales on consumer caution. The CEO of the Container Store said the chain has been hurt by a "retail funk."

Yet some other stores reported healthy sales gains, including the discount club chain Costco and grocery chain Kroger's.

Purchases of large items like autos may be leaving many Americans with less money to spend on discretionary items like clothes and electronics. Rising grocery prices have likely also squeezed household budgets.

Still, employers are hiring at a healthy pace, which may give Americans more confidence to spend. Employers have added an average of 230,000 jobs a month in the first half of this year, up from 194,000 a month in 2013. That's knocked the unemployment rate down to 6.1 percent, the lowest in nearly six years.

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Airbus launches new planes in wide body family

FARNBOROUGH, England — Airbus has launched updated versions of its A330 wide body aircraft in a bit to improve fuel efficiency, increase range and help the aircraft compete against Boeing's 787 Dreamliner.

Airbus told reporters Monday the new designs for the A330-800neo and the A330-900neo will reduce fuel consumption by 14 percent per seat and boost the model's range by 400 nautical miles.

Air Lease Corp. of Los Angeles on Monday agreed to buy 25 of the new A330-900s as well as 60 A320neos. No financial details were immediately disclosed at the world's premier aviation event in the south of England.

The launch comes as Airbus struggles to find buyers for the larger A350 model.

Emirates recently cancelled an order for the A350, and opted for Boeing aircraft of a similar size.

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How nations are tackling nuclear waste storage

TOKYO — For years, Japan has struggled to find a site to safely store highly radioactive waste from nuclear power plants for as long as 100,000 years.

Tens of thousands of tons of spent fuel stored at nuclear power plants will remain dangerously radioactive for thousands of years — a vexing problem that nuclear-powered nations around the world face. After decades of studies, scientists now agree that underground storage is the best option, but finding a community willing to host a radioactive dump site is difficult.

Here is how some countries have tackled the issue:

—JAPAN: Despite trying to find a storage site for more than a decade, Japan still doesn't have one. It seeks to continue its fuel recycling program and envisions an underground facility that can store more than 40,000 vitrified waste cylinders, each weighing half a ton and enclosed in a thick steel canister and an additional thick layer of clay, at a site 300 meters (990 feet) underground or deeper. The 3.5 trillion yen ($35 billion) repository is planned for launch by 2040, but a delay is likely given the lack of site candidates.

—UNITED STATES: A plan to dispose of spent fuel rods from commercial power plants and high-level waste from the country's weapons program at a 500-meter-deep (1,640-foot-deep) underground site at Yucca Mountain in Nevada failed in 2009 after more than $90 billion was spent. The government is now looking at extending the use of interim "dry cask" storage for spent fuel to buy time until it can find a new site for a possible 2048 launch.

—FINLAND: One of the world's most successful models, a current test site, called Onkalo, which means "cave," will be used as a final repository starting around 2020 to dispose of 9,000 tons of spent fuel without reprocessing, to be stored in protective casks. The site will be located as deep as 450 meters (1,480 feet) underground on hard crystalline bedrock.

—SWEDEN: Another successful model, Sweden is expecting to start construction next year on a 500-meter (1,640-foot) -deep repository to dispose of 12,000 tons of spent fuel, without reprocessing, for a planned launch in 2029. The project has so far cost about $7.4 billion since 1990.

—FRANCE: Experienced in fuel reprocessing, fabrication and storage of vitrified high-level waste, France has helped Japan with fuel recycling technologies. The country has identified a candidate site near its deep underground research site in the northeast town of Bure, to be located as deep as 500 meters (1,640 feet) underground on clay bedrock. It will store vitrified waste and high-level waste from the country's fuel reprocessing program, for a planned launch around 2025.

—BRITAIN: The country has a fuel reprocessing policy, but not all spent fuel is expected to be recycled. Britain has not found a research venue or a final repository, though its Nuclear Decommissioning Authority has been searching since 2008. Under the current plan, Britain will dig as deep as 1,000 meters (3,300 feet) to create a repository, for a possible launch by the late 2050s.

—GERMANY: Under Germany's nuclear phase-out policy, all power stations are to be closed by around 2022. Spent fuel is being managed jointly by the utilities for interim storage until final disposal by the federal government. Separated high-level waste from past reprocessing in France and Britain will return to Germany by 2022 for final disposal. The northern town of Gorleben's salt dome is considered a potential site for geological disposal, with a planned launch around 2035.

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Mylan to buy Abbott business line in $5.3B deal

PITTSBURGH — The generic drugmaker Mylan is buying Abbott Laboratories' generic-drugs business in developed markets for stock valued at about $5.3 billion.

Mylan said Monday that the deal will diversify and expand its business outside the U.S. The combined company will be organized in the Netherlands, which will help reduce its tax expenses. The company will keep its headquarters near Pittsburgh.

The deal is expected to lower Mylan's tax rate to approximately 20 percent to 21 percent in the first full year, and to the high teens after that.

Several other U.S. companies are using mergers to reincorporate in countries with lower tax rates. These moves are raising concerns among U.S. lawmakers because they can cost the federal government billions in tax revenue.

The business to be acquired by Mylan encompasses more than 100 generic and specialty drugs sold in Europe, Japan, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Some of the products include Creon, Influvac, Brufen, Amitiza and Androgel. It also include manufacturing plants in France and Japan.

The portfolio of products accounted for about $2 billion in sales last year.

Abbott is keeping its branded generic drug business in emerging markets. That business had 2013 sales of $2.9 billion. It is also keeping its other businesses and products in developed markets.

Abbott will own about 21 percent of the combined Mylan company — which will be called Mylan NV — but does not intend to remain a long-term shareholder. Shares of Mylan NV will trade on the Nasdaq under Mylan's existing ticker symbol, "MYL."

The transaction is expected to about double Mylan's revenue in Europe by strengthening its presence in countries such as Italy, the U.K., Germany, France, Spain and Portugal. It also is expected to more than double Mylan's revenue in Canada and Japan, and strengthen its business in Australia and New Zealand. The deal also gives Mylan a meaningful presence in the specialty and branded generics market in Central and Eastern Europe.

The deal is expected to close in early 2015. It is expected to immediately add to Mylan's earnings, to the tune of about 25 cents per share in adjusted earnings in the first year, increasing through 2018.

Mylan Inc. is based in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania.

Mylan's stock added $2.10, or 4.2 percent, to $52.30 in premarket trading, while shares of Abbott gained 94 cents, or 2.3 percent, to $42.24 .

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Citigroup to pay $7B in subprime mortgages probe

WASHINGTON — Citigroup will pay $7 billion to settle an investigation into risky subprime mortgages, the type that helped fuel the financial crisis.

The agreement announced Monday comes weeks after talks between the sides broke down, prompting the government to warn that it would sue the New York investment bank. The bank had offered to pay less than $4 billion, a sum substantially less than what the Justice Department was asking for.

The settlement stems from the sale of securities made up of subprime mortgages, which fueled both the housing boom and bust that triggered the Great Recession at the end of 2007.

Citigroup and other banks downplayed the risks of subprime mortgages when packaging and selling them to mutual funds, investment trusts, pensions, as well as other banks and investors. The securities, which contained so-called residential mortgage-backed securities and collateralized debt obligations, plunged in value when the housing market collapsed in 2006 and 2007. Those losses triggered a financial crisis that pushed the economy into the worst recession since the 1930s.

The bank separately agreed in April to pay $1.13 billion to settle claims by investors seeking that the lender buy back billions of dollars in residential mortgage-backed securities.

In the deal announced Monday, Citigroup will make a $4 billion civil monetary payment to the Justice Department, and another $500 million in compensatory payments to state attorney's general and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.

The bank will provide $2.5 billion in consumer relief, which will include financing for construction and preservation of affordable housing, as well as principal reduction and forbearance for residential loans.

"The comprehensive settlement announced today with the U.S. Department of Justice, state attorneys general, and the FDIC resolves all pending civil investigations related to our legacy RMBS and CDO underwriting, structuring and issuance activities, said CEO Michael Corbat. "We also have now resolved substantially all of our legacy RMBS and CDO litigation."

The bank will take a pre-tax charge of about $3.8 billion because of the settlement during its second quarter.

Shares of Citigroup Inc. rose nearly 4 percent to $48.82 an hour before the U.S. stock market opened Monday.

The Citigroup settlement comes months after a similar — but much larger — deal between the Justice Department and JPMorgan Chase & Co., the nation's biggest bank. After months of negotiations, the bank last year agreed to pay $13 billion after an investigation into toxic mortgage-backed securities.

As part of the deal, which included settlements with New York, California and other states, JPMorgan agreed to provide $4 billion in relief to homeowners affected by the bad loans. The bank also acknowledged that it misrepresented the quality of its securities to investors.

That deal was seen as a possible template for settlement with Citigroup and Bank of America Corp., which was accused in a government lawsuit last summer of failing to disclose risks and misleading investors in its sale of $850 million of mortgage-linked securities. The Securities and Exchange Commission filed a related lawsuit against Bank of America.

____

Josh Boak and Marcy Gordon in Washington contributed to this report.

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AbbVie, Shire enter detailed talks on combination

Drugmakers AbbVie and Shire have entered detailed talks about a possible combination after AbbVie raised its bid once again and offered to give Shire shareholders a bigger stake in the resulting company.

Shire said Monday that North Chicago, Illinois-based AbbVie is now offering a cash-stock combination valued at 53.20 British pounds ($91.10) for each share of Shire, which is headquartered on the British island of Jersey.

The new offer totals roughly $53.68 billion and represents an increase from AbbVie's previous proposal, which amounted to more than $51 billion. Shire PLC shareholders also would own about 25 percent of the combined new company, up from the 24 percent stake proposed in the most recent offer.

Shire had rejected several unsolicited bids from AbbVie Inc. before it asked for another revised proposal earlier this month. Shire said its board would be willing to recommend the latest bid to its shareholders if the companies resolved some other terms in the offer, which it did not detail.

The drugmaker said its board has entered "detailed discussions" with AbbVie over those terms.

Shire makes the attention deficit hyperactivity disorder medication Vyvanse as well as rare disease and gastrointestinal treatments. AbbVie was spun off from Abbott Laboratories at the start of last year. Its products include branded prescription drugs like the blockbuster anti-inflammatory drug Humira.

AbbVie executives have said the product portfolios of the two companies complement each other. The U.S. company also is interested in the tax break it could achieve through the deal.

AbbVie has said it expects the combined company to pay a tax rate of about 13 percent by 2016 after AbbVie reincorporates on Jersey. That would be down from its current rate of roughly 22 percent.

Several other U.S. companies are using or trying to use these overseas combinations called inversions to lower their tax rates. These moves are raising concerns among U.S. lawmakers since they can cost the federal government billions in tax revenue.

At 35 percent, the United States has the highest corporate income tax rate in the industrialized world. The European Union, by contrast, averages about 21 percent.

In addition to the higher tax rate, the United States also taxes income companies earn overseas once they bring it back home. The percentage taxed is the difference between the tax rate in the company where it was earned and the U.S. rate.

"We tax income where ever it is earned around the world once you bring it back home, and almost nobody else does that," said Donald Goldman, a professor at Arizona State's W.P. Carey School of Business.

Inversions can happen if a U.S. company merges with a foreign company and shareholders of the foreign entity own at least 20 percent of the newly merged business. The foreign company would either acquire the U.S. one or the two would create a new firm overseas, but the U.S. company can keep its corporate offices, and executives wouldn't have to move overseas.

AbbVie's stock fell 2.4 percent, or $1.31 to $53.65 in pre-market trading Monday after Shire announced the deal update. U.S.-traded shares of Shire rose by $4.30 to $253.36.

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Quincy lures tech firms

Quincy is throwing its hat into the Massachusetts technology ring, trying to lure growing high tech and life sciences companies — and the coveted jobs they bring with them — to the City of Presidents.

"We've really been working hard to put the pieces together to make Quincy more attractive for investment," said Quincy Mayor Thomas Koch.

Koch said Quincy can be a good fit for companies that need a bit more space than Boston offers, particularly for light manufacturing.

Recently, Quincy sent two economic development officials to a global biotechnology conference in San Diego to pitch Quincy as a good home, and joined the newly created Life Sciences Corridor, a joint effort with Cambridge, Boston, Somerville and Braintree to market the region to companies.

Medical device company RasLabs, a former MassChallenge finalist, unveiled its new office and lab space in Quincy Thursday.

It is moving from Boston's Innovation District.

"This is a magnificent spot," RasLabs CEO Eric Sandberg said, referring to the new office. "It was everything we were looking for, there's room to expand."

RasLabs had been working out of MassChallenge and looked for office space in the Innovation District, but did not find a good fit.

RasLabs, which makes synthetic muscles, joins Boston Scientific and Bluefin Labs, makers of underwater drones, in Quincy.

Bluefin, which came into the spotlight when its underwater drones were used in the search for the missing Malaysian airliner, was offered tax incentives to move to Quincy, Koch said.

Bluefin CEO and president David Kelly said the company chose Quincy because of a supportive Quincy government as well as "the Fore River Shipyard, which offers water access and ample factory space."

Similar tax incentives could be used in the future to draw new companies to the city.

"We use any tool or resource we can to help...the economy of our city," Koch said.

Quincy, where the unemployment rate is just 4.8 percent, according to the state, is still trying to expand its economy.

"For Quincy, or any community, it's important to do as much as you can to diversify your economy and your commercial base so you're not relying on one industry sector," said Dean Rizzo, president of the Quincy Chamber of Commerce.

Still, growing companies need more than just cheaper office space.

Part of Quincy's effort is creating an attractive ecosystem for companies, as well as a pipeline for future talent.

Quincy College has a new 1,600 square foot biotech lab, funded by the U.S. Department of Labor and the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center.

Koch added: "It's been a real concerted effort to open our world a little bit."

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Co. creates machine shop in a box

A MassChallenge finalist founded in a Somerville community work center says it's created the world's first hybrid 3D printer they've dubbed a "machine shop in a box."

The Mebotics Microfactory combines the best of two types of manufacturing machine: one that starts with nothing more than a design and adds layer upon layer of material — usually plastic — to create a prototype, and one that begins with an amorphous material and chips away at it until the machine has sculpted the prototype according to the design's specifications.

"By combining the additive and the subtractive, we're able to work in a huge range of materials that a standard 3D printer can't," said Jeremy Fryer-Biggs, Mebotics' co-founder and CEO.

The result can be the difference between a plastic letter opener that breaks when you try to use it, and one made out of metal with a wooden handle that's not only functional but attractive, he said.

Fryer-Biggs has also used the Microfactory to make a custom speaker, a phone dock, woodblock prints, wax-casting chess pieces and a chess board made of exotic woods.

His fascination with building things began when he was a kid playing with Legos.

"Later on, while other kids were spending their allowances on pizza," he said, "I was buying things at Radio Shack for my next invention."

By the time Fryer-Biggs saw a 3D printer in action for the first time when he was a graduate student at Tufts University, he was hooked. After earning his master's degree in biomedical engineering in 2010, he started his own product-development company.

Sharper Image hired him to make a bagel-slicing device, but Fryer-Biggs was in no position to pay $500,000 for a new professional 3D printer. So he rented time on one.

"The client got angry because it took longer than expected," he said. "I said, 'Something's got to give.'"

At the time, Fryer-Biggs and three friends — Judah Sher, Calvin Domenico and Edison Gieswein — were helping grow a Somerville "maker space" called Artisan's Asylum, and they began kicking around the idea of making a hybrid manufacturing machine, one that, unlike most 3D printers, would be quiet, portable, clean and affordable.

In December 2012, they founded Mebotics, and over the next five months they financed the development of five versions of the Microfactory, each one a refinement over its predecessor.

The current version is a self-cleaning machine that can fit on a kitchen table, print materials in four colors and cut them. Because the Microfactory is connected to the Internet, Fryer-Biggs and his co-founders also are working on innovations that will allow people to remotely start their prints and monitor their machine's status, download content directly to it and network Microfactories together.

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Wine lovers raise a glass to direct shipping law

BOSTON — Whether it's pinot noir, merlot, chardonnay or cabernet sauvignon, wine lovers in Massachusetts will soon be able to have some of their favorite bottles shipped straight from the vineyards to their homes.

A provision in the new state budget lifts a long-standing prohibition on direct deliveries from wineries to consumers. It follows a spirited campaign by out-of-state producers and customers that recently received a major endorsement from former New England Patriots quarterback Drew Bledsoe, who operates a winery in Washington state.

The law won't take effect until Jan. 1, but connoisseurs in a state with one of the nation's highest per capita wine consumption rates are anxious to enjoy the convenience of ordering brands that are currently difficult or impossible to find on local store shelves.

"It definitely opens the door to us wine geeks to have, right on our doorsteps, these cool, funky, small-producers' wines," said Lorraine Martinelle, of Worcester.

Although she's made frequent trips to wine country in California and abroad, the best Martinelle said she could do was to have her favorites shipped to her friend's home in neighboring Connecticut.

According to Free the Grapes, an industry-backed group based in Napa, California, direct wine shipping occurs in all but nine other states: Alabama, Arkansas, Delaware, Kentucky, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Dakota and Utah.

"It's about consumer choice," said Jeremy Benson, a spokesman for Free the Grapes, who added that wine lovers from Massachusetts had been among the most vocal of those in states with direct shipping bans.

Under the new law, domestic wine producers will initially pay $300 for a direct shipper's license, with a $150 renewal fee each subsequent year. Shippers may deliver no more than 12 cases of wine (containing no more than 9 liters per case) to each person in a year.

The wine must be for personal consumption only and cannot be resold. Wineries must report all deliveries to the state each year and pay Massachusetts excise taxes.

The American Wine Consumers Coalition complained that the new law would still prevent direct shipments of most international wines because they are only available in the U.S. through wine retailers, who remain barred from direct shipping under the law.

Resistance to direct shipping had come from liquor store owners who feared a loss of business and from those concerned that wine could easily be delivered to underage drinkers. The law requires that wine packages bear the words "contains alcohol" and be signed for at delivery by a person 21 years or older.

Violations could bring fines and license suspensions.

A 2006 law allowed some small wineries that didn't have a wholesale contract in the state to ship wine directly to consumers. But large producers objected, and a federal judge later struck down the law as unconstitutional.

Emily Murray, a Worcester resident and wine lover who said she had been frustrated by a lack of direct shipping, said the state's reluctance to lift the ban wasn't surprising, given that Massachusetts was also slow to end many of its blue laws, such as its former prohibition on Sunday liquor store sales.

Yet it may well have been Bledsoe, who played for the Patriots from 1993 to 2001 and was inducted into the team's Hall of Fame, who nudged the direct shipping effort over the goal line by visiting the Statehouse last year to push for the bill.

Bledsoe, owner of the Doubleback winery, explained to lawmakers that he was having trouble providing samples to friends, fans and former teammates in Massachusetts, including Tom Brady, who succeeded him as New England's quarterback.

"Tom actually bought the wine, and he shipped it to his dad's house" in California, Bledsoe said. But the plan went awry when Brady's father drank the wine before his son got there.

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Fired 'Opie and Anthony' host Anthony Cumia: 'I will never apologize'

Anthony Cumia, fired host of Sirius XM's "Opie and Anthony Show," defended himself today during his first post-scandal TV appearance.

Cumia was given the boot after making racially-charged comments on Twitter last week.

"I will never apologize for this; I didn't do anything wrong," Cumia said on Fox's "Red Eye" on Saturday morning, as reported by Mediaite. "I go off on tears like this. I curse. I say horrific things about people who piss me off and that's exactly what I did. Why am I going to apologize and say I am different or I changed? I haven't. It would be a phony bogus apology. If it happened again, I would do the same thing."

Cumia, who called a black woman a "pig" and "an animal" after she allegedly punched him in the face for trying to take a photo, said his comments weren't racist as he wasn't referring to all black people, just those who happen to be violent.

The radio shock jock described SiriusXM's actions as "hypocritical" because he hasn't been punished before for making similar comments on air for 10 years.

"To fire me for something on social media is kind of hypocritical, I think," Cumia said. "There wasn't even any outrage. No one approached SiriusXM and said 'Oh my God, you've got to fire him.' It was such a kneejerk reaction in this day and age."

(C) 2014 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

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Voltage to the starter is key to non-starting Focus

I found a 2003 Ford Focus with 30,000 miles for my daughter's transportation needs for a few years. After driving to a destination, the engine refuses to turn over unless you wait 20-30 minutes. This only happens in summertime and it simply "clicks" like a battery problem. I've had it analyzed on the computer and got no hits. My mechanic, to his credit, doesn't want to just guess at the problem until he's more sure of the source. Can you help?

Anytime there's an intermittent no-crank issue, the question is whether or not battery voltage is reaching the starter motor. A volt meter across the battery terminals as you attempt to crank the engine will tell you the answer. If voltage immediately drops into the 10- to 12-volt range as you turn the key, current is reaching the starter motor and it is trying to crank the engine. If you can, tap the starter or solenoid with a baseball bat while attempting to crank the engine — with all due caution and safety, of course. If the engine suddenly cranks, it is likely a faulty starter motor or starter solenoid.

If, on the other hand, the volt meter shows no significant change in battery voltage as you attempt to crank the engine, no current is reaching the starter motor. There is likely a poor-quality connection or ground somewhere in the starting circuit.

In either case I'd suggest disconnecting the battery and disassembling/cleaning/resecuring every electrical and ground connection in the starting circuit.

The clutch pedal in my 1988 Dodge Ram 50 was hard to depress after 30,000 km on a replaced clutch kit. I installed a new disc, pressure plate and throw-out bearing. I examined the cable for binding and kinks but found nothing — the cable was smooth in the casing. It is still really hard to depress. I've correctly adjusted the cable free play. I even took off the cable from the transmission and manually swung the clutch fork that moves the throw-out bearing. It is smooth and easy until it contacts the pressure plate, then super resistance. When I had the transmission out I saw no binding of the throw-out bearing sliding on the spindle. Help!

I'll assume you installed a stock replacement clutch assembly — not a heavy-duty clutch that might inherently require more pedal effort to disengage. Dodge recommends lightly lubricating the input shaft splines with wheel bearing grease and the pilot bushing in the rear of the crankshaft with a multi-purpose grease to prevent the clutch disc splines from binding on the shaft.

Years ago I stumbled across an unusual cause for a very stiff clutch pedal. The bushing in the clutch pedal was binding on the shaft the clutch pedal pivots on under the dash. I discovered this only when I accidentally pushed the clutch pedal with the cable disconnected from the pedal assembly. I ended up disassembling, lightly honing, lubricating and reassembling the pedal assembly – problem solved.

Even though the cable isn't binding as you move it by hand, it could have worn a groove in its casing/housing, which may cause binding under the stress of disengaging the clutch.

If I do a fast takeoff from a stop, the transmission on my '05 Buick LeSabre clunks hard shifting through all gears. If I stop and shut the car off it is fine and won't do it again until I have to do a quick takeoff. What do you think?

When this occurs, does the SES (Service Engine Soon) lamp illuminate? Your first step is to have a scan tool check for DTC fault codes. The transmission may be dropping into "limp mode" and operating with higher hydraulic pressure to protect itself. A simple DIY approach is to add half a can of SeaFoam Trans-Tune to the transmission to clean the valve body and hydraulic components.

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. Because of the volume of mail, we cannot provide personal replies.

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