Gas prices continue to decline in Oklahoma

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) -- The price of gasoline continues to decline across much of Oklahoma.

AAA Oklahoma said Tuesday in its weekly price survey that one gallon of regular self-serve gas was just under $2.97 per gallon ? down 2 cents per gallon from last week.

The price in selected cities ranged from $2.87 per gallon in both Tulsa and Bartlesville to $3.17 per gallon in Idabel. The average in Oklahoma City was $2.93 per gallon and in Lawton the price was about $2.97 per gallon.

AAA says the average price in Oklahoma is the fifth-lowest in the nation after Utah, Wyoming, Colorado and Idaho while Hawaii has the highest average price at $4.06 per gallon.

The nationwide average is $3.30 per gallon.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/gas-prices-continue-decline-oklahoma-183658905.html

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German economy shrank in Q4 in face of euro crisis

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) ? Germany's economy has fallen victim to economic problems hitting the rest of the eurozone and shrank in the fourth quarter of 2012, preliminary government figures show.

According to government figures released Tuesday, the German economy grew by a modest 0.7 percent in 2012 ? well below the 3 percent growth seen in 2011 and suggests the economy contracted in the last three months of the year. The German government said that shrinkage could be around 0.5 percent.

Germany has so far avoided the fate of seven of its fellow members of the group of 17 European Union countries that use the euro and avoided a recession. This has been down to the country's strong export-led economy. However, the economy of the eurozone as a whole as fallen into a recession and demand for German exports from struggling countries such as Spain, Portugal and Greece has dropped as a result. Meanwhile, Germany's industries have cut back on investment.

Analyst Carsten Brzeski at ING bank estimated that the numbers showed the German economy shrank around 0.3-0.4 percent in the last three months of 2012. A 0.4 percent contraction amounts to an annualized drop of roughly 1.6 percent.

Economic growth was 0.8 percent in the first quarter, 0.3 percent in the second and 0.2 percent in the third. Due to a methodological quirk, German state statistics agency releases annual growth figures before it issues official fourth-quarter numbers, which will be announced next month.

Germany's economy had been widely forecast to contract in the final quarter of 2012 but analysts remain optimistic that it will recover and escape recession, defined as two consecutive quarters of negative growth. The country's Bundesbank central bank has said it does not expect that to happen even though growth for all of next year should come in at an anemic 0.4 percent.

Analyst Rainer Sartoris at HSBC said that domestic demand remained a drag on the economy because businesses were not investing in new plants, buildings and equipment even as consumers were willing to spend money. Wages grew 3.6 percent last year, the third strong increase in a row.

The recent easing of financial market turmoil from the eurozone crisis over too much government debt in some countries could help motivate businesses to spend more in investment.

"After growing relatively healthy at the start of 2012, the economy has entered into a weak spot at the end of the year," he said. "We expect the weakness to be relatively short-lived with respect to latest indications of a pick up of global economic activity."

Germany also said it had reached a balanced budget under the official EU debt criteria, turning in a small surplus for 2012 of 0.1 percent of annual economic output.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/german-economy-shrank-q4-face-euro-crisis-192053895--finance.html

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Standard Kilogram Needs Trimming

Contaminants have made the standard kilogram weigh slightly more than it originally did, but a careful cleaning method may slim it down. Sophie Bushwick reports.

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How do you define one kilogram? Easy: it's the exact mass of a metal cylinder called the International Prototype Kilogram, IPK for short, kept in controlled conditions in France. But the standard kilogram has gained weight since its creation in 1875. To trim it and its many replicas down to size, we need to clean them. The report is in the journal Metrologia. [Peter Cumpson and Naoko Sano, Stability of reference masses V: UV/ozone treatment of gold and platinum surfaces]

When scientists analyzed the surface of an IPK replica, they found it carried tens of additional micrograms. These changes are due to contaminants building up on the kilograms, despite their careful storage under glass. The additional mass is equal to just a few grains of sand. But the kilogram is such an essential unit that tiny changes to different replicas are important.

To remove the contaminants, we need a standard and reproducible cleaning method. Researchers exposed one kilogram measure to ozone and ultraviolet light, which removed the carbon-based contamination without damaging the metal. But to permanently standardize the kilogram, we'll need to define it in terms of fundamental constants, not a lump of metal in a jar.

?Sophie Bushwick

[The above text is a transcript of this podcast.]

Source: http://rss.sciam.com/click.phdo?i=0ce2b90956ce3ddc99ae380d69104656

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Reid denies involvement in Utah businessman scheme

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) ? Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's office said Monday he was never involved in a deal to have a Utah businessman pay the senator to make a federal investigation disappear.

St. George businessman Jeremy Johnson, who's accused of running a $350 million software scheme, said a top official in the Utah attorney general's office orchestrated an agreement in 2010 to pay $600,000 to someone connected to Reid.

Johnson told The Salt Lake Tribune over the weekend that he believed Reid would intervene in the Federal Trade Commission's investigation into his business.

A spokeswoman for Reid's office, Kristen Orthman, said Monday that the Nevada Democrat "had no knowledge or involvement" in Johnson's case and said the allegations "are nothing more than innuendo and simply not true."

Federal prosecutors allege that Johnson's company sent software to consumers for a supposedly risk-free trial but billed them anyway.

Johnson was arrested at a Phoenix airport in 2011, carrying more than $26,000 in cash and a one-way plane ticket to Costa Rica.

Prosecutors initially charged him with one count of mail fraud. He was set to enter a guilty plea Friday to two additional charges of bank fraud and money laundering as part of an agreement with the government.

But that deal fell apart after Johnson and prosecutors disagreed over the terms. Johnson instead decided to maintain his not guilty plea and the case is set to go to trial.

On Saturday, the Tribune reported that Johnson provided the newspaper with emails, financial statements, photos and a transcript of a recorded meeting with John Swallow, then the state's chief deputy attorney general.

Only one email from Johnson was available on the newspaper's website.

Swallow was elected as Utah Attorney General in November and was sworn into office last week. He has strongly denied the allegations and maintains he only offered to connect Johnson with a lobbying firm.

After the FTC filed a lawsuit against Johnson and nine business associates in December 2010, Johnson said he asked Swallow to return part of the $250,000 he had paid. Johnson said he doesn't know if anyone connected to Reid received it.

Swallow, a Republican, said he told Johnson he would not interfere with the FTC investigation or advocate for Johnson to the U.S. attorney.

"Any suggestion by Mr. Johnson that I have been involved in illegal or inappropriate activity regarding his FTC case or any other matter is false and defamatory," he said.

Swallow said he connected Johnson to someone who could hire lobbyists but did not participate in any agreement or receive any payment. He said Johnson is trying to divert attention from his own problems.

Utah Democrats have called for an independent investigation to look into the allegations against Swallow.

Swallow's office declined to answer questions Monday and said they would be issuing a statement. Messages left with Reid's office for further comment on Monday weren't immediately returned.

Late Monday afternoon, Swallow's office released a letter asking the U.S. Attorney's Office in Salt Lake City to investigate Johnson's claims.

Swallow said he's confident an investigation will clear his name.

"These lies he's told have been fabricated for some end I cannot imagine. That's what I hope this investigation will show. I'm looking forward to clear my name and show people that this didn't happen," Swallow told The Associated Press Monday evening.

The U.S. Attorney's Office in Salt Lake City has declined comment on whether there is an investigation into the alleged deal.

Before his arrest, Johnson donated generously to charities and to the political campaigns of former Utah Attorney General Mark Shurtleff. He gave $2,400 to Reid's re-election campaign in July 2010, according to Federal Election Commission records.

Johnson also used his personal helicopters to aid search and rescue efforts in southern Utah and made international headlines in January 2010 when he purchased a plane to fly doctors and other critical supplies to Haiti following a devastating earthquake.

Johnson, 37, could face decades in prison if he's convicted. He is currently free on a $2.8 million bond.

Prosecutors on Friday said they plan to file a new indictment in the case within a month, but wouldn't comment on whether other people besides Johnson would be charged.

A spokeswoman for Johnson's attorneys released a statement Monday afternoon saying Swallow's claims that he was uninvolved and had no knowledge of the agreement are false.

"Johnson stands by his comments, as told to the Salt Lake Tribune, and continues to believe that his understanding of the agreement to be accurate," the statement said.

___

Associated Press writer Brady McCombs contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/reid-denies-involvement-utah-businessman-scheme-200715838--election.html

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Toyota is world's largest automaker again

6 hrs.

The Associated Press , Staff

Toyota has again dethroned General Motors as the world's top-selling automaker.?

The Japanese company sold 9.7 million cars and trucks worldwide in 2012, although it's still counting. GM sold 9.29 million.?

Both companies saw higher sales, but Toyota's growth was far larger as it rolled out new versions of popular models like the Camry. GM executives promised sales growth this year, especially in the U.S. Both companies say publicly that they don't care about who wins, but concede that the crown is an important morale booster for employees.?

GM was the top-selling carmaker for more than seven decades before losing the title to Toyota in 2008. But GM retook the sales crown in 2011 when Toyota's factories were slowed by an earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The disaster left Toyota dealers with few cars to sell. The company has since recovered.?

Toyota's comeback from the earthquake, and flooding in Thailand, is only part of the story, says Jeff Schuster, senior vice president of forecasting for LMC Automotive, a Detroit-area industry forecasting firm. The company also has freshened up its stale midsize sedan, the Camry, the top-selling car in the United States.?

GM's global sales rose 2.9 percent last year, it announced Monday at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. Toyota sales rose 22 percent.?

Schuster expects Toyota to keep the lead over GM this year as it launches a new Corolla.?

"I think that's going to be enough to keep them in their position," he says.?

GM is also contending with a stronger Volkswagen. It narrowly edged out the fast-growing German company for second place in 2012. VW sold a record 9.1 million vehicles.?

Volkswagen, with big sellers like the Passat midsize sedan and Jetta compact, closed in on GM with an 11 percent sales increase across the globe. The United States, where VW Group sales rose 34 percent, led the way.?

Schuster expects GM to hold off Volkswagen in 2013. That's because VW has more of a presence in Europe, where sales are falling as the region struggles with high unemployment and weak economies.?

Source: http://www.nbcnews.com/business/toyota-worlds-largest-automaker-again-1B7951302

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I got some caffeine pills for work, since I can't drink coffee anymore.

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France: US helping support Mali operation

This picture released by the French Army Communications Audiovisual office (ECPAD) shows a French Mirage 2000 D aircraft refueling while flying to N'Djamena overnight January 11 to 12, after taking off from the French military base of Nancy. The battle to retake Mali's north from the al-Qaida-linked groups controlling it began in earnest Saturday, after hundreds of French forces deployed to the country and began aerial bombardments to drive back the Islamic extremists from a town seized earlier this week. (AP Photo/ R.Nicolas-Nelson, Ecpad)

This picture released by the French Army Communications Audiovisual office (ECPAD) shows a French Mirage 2000 D aircraft refueling while flying to N'Djamena overnight January 11 to 12, after taking off from the French military base of Nancy. The battle to retake Mali's north from the al-Qaida-linked groups controlling it began in earnest Saturday, after hundreds of French forces deployed to the country and began aerial bombardments to drive back the Islamic extremists from a town seized earlier this week. (AP Photo/ R.Nicolas-Nelson, Ecpad)

This picture released by the French Army Communications Audiovisual office (ECPAD) shows French soldiers of the 21st Marine Infantry Regiment boarding to Bamako, the capital from Mali, at the N'Djamena's airport, in Chad, Friday, Jan. 11, 2013. The battle to retake Mali's north from the al-Qaida-linked groups controlling it began in earnest Saturday, after hundreds of French forces deployed to the country and began aerial bombardments to drive back the Islamic extremists from a town seized earlier this week. (AP Photo/ R.Nicolas-Nelson, Ecpad)

This picture released by the French Army Communications Audiovisual office (ECPAD) shows French fighter pilot getting ready to take off with a Mirage 2000 D, at Kossei camp in N'Djamena, Chad, Friday, Jan. 11, 2013. The battle to retake Mali's north from the al-Qaida-linked groups controlling it began in earnest Saturday, after hundreds of French forces deployed to the country and began aerial bombardments to drive back the Islamic extremists from a town seized earlier this week. (AP Photo/ R.Nicolas-Nelson, Ecpad)

This picture released by the French Army Communications Audiovisual office (ECPAD) shows French fighter pilots walking toward their Mirage 2000 D, at Kossei camp in N'Djamena, Chad, Friday, Jan. 11, 2013. The battle to retake Mali's north from the al-Qaida-linked groups controlling it began in earnest Saturday, after hundreds of French forces deployed to the country and began aerial bombardments to drive back the Islamic extremists from a town seized earlier this week. (AP Photo/ R.Nicolas-Nelson, Ecpad)

This picture released by the French Army Communications Audiovisual office (ECPAD) shows French soldiers of the 21st Marine Infantry Regiment preparing to board for Bamako, the capital from Mali, at the N'Djamena's airport, in Chad, Friday, Jan. 11, 2013. The battle to retake Mali's north from the al-Qaida-linked groups controlling it began in earnest Saturday, after hundreds of French forces deployed to the country and began aerial bombardments to drive back the Islamic extremists from a town seized earlier this week. (AP Photo/ R.Nicolas-Nelson, Ecpad)

BAMAKO, Mali (AP) ? France's foreign minister says the United States is providing communications and transport help for an international military intervention aimed at wresting Mali's north out of the hands of Islamist extremists.

Laurent Fabius says Britain, Denmark, and other European countries also are helping.

Fabius said on RTL radio Sunday, "We have the support of the Americans for communications and transport." He didn't provide details.

U.S. officials on Saturday said they had offered to send drones to Mali.

The three-day-old French-led effort to take back Mali's north from the al-Qaida-linked extremists has included airstrikes by jets and combat helicopters on at least four towns.

Associated Press

Source: http://hosted2.ap.org/APDEFAULT/3d281c11a96b4ad082fe88aa0db04305/Article_2013-01-13-Mali-Fighting/id-2721502104a44a709a572017b3c0ce44

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