On the court, at the rink, and at work, the game is played differently depending on where you live. Can two contrasting cultures play nice?

The banners have been unfurled, the trophies have been hoisted, and the NBA and NHL seasons have come to an end. Some say sports hold too much weight in the real world, but there is something to be said for how the team attitudes match the regional dispositions of their people.

On the hardwood, the Western Conference’s Dallas Mavericks used creative teamwork to defeat the result-oriented Miami Heat of the East. And on the ice, the aggressive Boston Bruins of the NHL’s Northeast Division willed themselves to victory over a relaxed pack of skilled Vancouver Canucks from the Northwest.

Likewise in the office, research is proving that these local temperaments are quite accurate. So between the laid-back, creative West Coast mentality and the assertive, all-business East Coast mindset, which would win out? Always bet on the home team, say the experts.

“One of the most consistent findings in the last couple of decades of psychology research is that people are happier in living and working in places that match their personality traits,” says Adam Grant, Ph.D. and Associate Professor of Management at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. So, as nice as it is to be around friendly people, disagreeable folks are actually more comfortable when they’re surrounded by like-minded individuals who also thrive on conflict.

Over Jackie Mathys’ 15-year career, the Portland, Ore.-based headhunter with Mathys+Potestio has witnessed this phenomenon firsthand. “If you don’t fit, nothing else matters,” says the creative staffing specialist. “That’s the first test — usually an employer can tell within 60 seconds if a person is a cultural fit.” And in Portland, where salaries are lower and jobs are fewer, that cultural fit is more pronounced because job seekers more often move to Oregon for the lifestyle, not for professional opportunities.

A 2010 study published in Psychological Science showed that people experience enhanced feelings of well being when their personalities match the culture of their new surroundings. But the report also advised companies that are relocating staff not to assume that transplanted workers will be as happy as natives, simply because they moved to a locally-loved location. In order to determine how successful the worker will be in the new area, employers should instead think in advance about whether the person and the region’s culture can make a perfect pairing.

The key to happiness is determining where you fit in best. A well-accepted categorization of personalities, the Five Factor Model, postulates that for all of our differences, there are actually only a handful of universal characteristics: extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, neuroticism, and openness.

Springboarding off that research, a 2008 study out of the University of Cambridge and the University of Texas at Austin shows that the East and West Coasts have significant differences in three of those five traits, which explains the contrasts between New Yorkers and the people of Newport Beach.

“Intensity is what I think about when I think about an East Coast lifestyle,” says Nancy King, an executive recruiter also based in Portland, who specializes in tech startups. Because of the East Coast cities’ density, they have an energy of urgency, she says. Meanwhile the West Coast’s open spaces and fewer larger cities encourage a relaxed vibe and lifestyle.

A little angst goes a long way

On the Five Factor Model (FFM), this “energy of urgency” translates to neuroticism. “Neuroticism is the strongest predictor of satisfaction with work and with life,” says Grant. “It is also the biggest difference between East and West.” Because it involves heightened sensitivity to negative emotions such as anxiety, anger, and depression, neurotic people tend to be less happy at work and with life, he says.

This is why West Coasters tend to demonstrate a higher average job satisfaction than those in the East where neuroticism manifests itself in the workplace through lower creativity, as evidenced by lower patent production and innovation rates. The higher the stress, the less focus put on math, engineering, and computers. Heading west, meanwhile, yields lower stress, more patents and innovation, and more attention to math, science and engineering.

Grant does admit that neuroticism is one of the hardest traits on which to show balance, because in most cultures it’s more desirable to be less neurotic. But when it comes to anticipating threats, crisis, and problems, channeling your inner Woody Allen can be advantageous. The anxiety that neuroticism generates is associated with a higher ability to plan and prepare. Neuroticism’s opposite is emotional stability, and believe it or not, recent evidence suggests it’s possible to be too emotionally stable. Being a Zen master may cause you to under-react to negative feedback, crisis, or threats. In other words, you may be too laid back on the job.

The West Coast’s relaxed vibe is represented by another trait in the FFM: agreeableness. The perceived cooperative, giving, caring, and trusting characteristics of the Pacific set can be highly beneficial for building reputations and relationships. In contrast, a competitive, challenging style helps define the East Coast version of this trait.

Ten years ago, when King worked as a recruiter in banking and finance, she frequently saw each personality. “It’s a manner of decision-making and a leadership style that’s more along the line of, ‘I’m making the decision here, and that’s what we’re going to do,’ versus a style of collaboration and discussion,” she says. “The West Coast executive teams are more involved — there’s more discussion.” Yet being disagreeable has its virtues, such as a stronger tendency to debate over issues and not being afraid to play devil’s advocate.

The third characteristic at odds between East and West in the FFM is openness. The best personality for creativity, says Grant, openness tends to thrive more in the West than the East. But being less open can be helpful in terms of establishing consistent routines, having good organizational memory, and learning from the past.

In job interviews between East and West Coasters, however, that conservative approach can backfire. “People from the East Coast want to get down to brass tacks pretty quickly,” says Mathys. “They want to address profitability, return on investment, and what they can do for that employer.” But while that may how business is done, she says it might not be what West Coast hiring managers want to hear.

It all comes back to what Grant sees as a stronger emphasis on professionalism in the East and a much more laidback set of organizational cultures on the West. And while the argument can be made that social media’s shrinking of the world is helping to blend these mentalities — King testifies to an increasing intensity among her West Coast tech clients — no such data has proven this theory out yet. Until it does, you’re best off playing the by the home court rules if you want to win.

Summary: On the court, at the rink, and at work, the game is played differently depending on where you live. Can two contrasting cultures play nice? The banners have been unfurled, the trophies have been hoisted, and the NBA and NHL seasons have come to an end. Some say sports hold too much weight in the…


A 13-century fortress possibly commissioned by Genghis Khan has been excavated in Mongolia. (Supplied)

A fortress built by medieval conqueror Genghis Khan has reportedly been uncovered in his home country of Mongolia.

A Mongolian-Japanese research team has begun excavating the structure, which dates from the 13th century, according to multiple reports.

The discovery is shedding new light on Mongolian expansion under Genghis Khan's leadership.

The fortress was probably used as a staging post for Mongolian forces after it was commissioned in 1212 by one of the Khan's ministers.

Researchers have also uncovered fragments of 13th-century Chinese pottery.

Genghis Khan united the Mongols in the 13th century and led them on conquests stretching from China to Europe.

The Mongol empire was at the time of the Khan's death the largest in the world, and remains the second-largest in history after the British Empire.

At their peak, Genghis Khan and his descendants ruled an empire covering 33 million square kilometres, encompassing a quarter of the world's population.

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FORTUNE — Apple wanted $380 million. Samsung said it owed no more than $52 million. On Thursday, after a six day trial and a couple days of deliberation, a jury awarded Apple AAPL $290 million — about 75% of what it asked for.

So ends the partial retrial of Apple v. Samsung, the patent infringement trial that resulted in August 2012 with a record $1.05 billion judgment against Samsung.

That figure has since been through several iterations. In March, the judge in the case vacated damages on 14 products — representing $450 million of the total award — because of errors made in the jury form. She ordered a new trial on that portion of the $1.05 billion.

In April, when Apple pointed out that the judge had also made an error, she backtracked a bit. The new trial — the one that just wrapped up — would determine damages on 13 products, representing $400 million of the original award.

According to AllThingsD‘s Ina Fried — who cited courtroom sources — Samsung now owes Apple a total of $929.83 million. That jibes with an estimate FOSS Patents’ Florian Mueller made in an FAQ filed at the start of the retrial.

A second patent trial, covering some of the products Samsung has introduced in the two and a half years since Apple filed its original suit — including the Galaxy S3 (but not the S4) — is scheduled to begin in March 2014.

Summary: The original $1.05 billion damage award has now been whittled down to about $930 million.


Information from the second black box found in the wreckage of the Germanwings flight that crashed in the French Alps confirms the co-pilot acted deliberately, investigators say.

"A first reading shows that the pilot in the cockpit used the automatic pilot to descend the plane towards an altitude of 30 metres," said the French BEA crash investigation office in a statement on Friday.

"Then, several times during the descent, the pilot changed the automatic pilot settings to increase the aircraft's speed," added the investigators.

The latest information appeared to confirm the theory that co-pilot Andreas Lubitz deliberately smashed the plane into the mountains, killing all 150 people on board, including two Australians.

Authorities found the second black box, which contains technical flight data, on Thursday after a gruelling 10-day search in difficult mountain terrain.

The precious box was transported to Paris on Thursday and specialist investigators began to analyse the data immediately.

"Work is continuing to determine the precise sequence of events during the flight," the BEA said.

Data from the first black box, which records conversations in the cockpit, suggested that Lubitz, 27, locked his captain out and then deliberately set the plane on a deadly collision course with the mountains.

The plane smashed into the mountains last week at a speed of 700km/h, instantly killing everyone on board - half of them German and more than 50 from Spain.

The crash sparked a tricky rescue mission, with authorities scouring the pulverised debris for clues and DNA to identify the victims.

French prosecutors have said that 150 DNA strands had been isolated but have also stressed this did not necessarily mean all the victims had been identified.

It also emerged on Thursday that Lubitz had searched online for information about suicide and cockpit doors.

German prosecutors have said Lubitz was diagnosed as suicidal "several years ago", before he became a pilot.

Lufthansa, the parent company of Germanwings, has come under huge pressure since the crash after it was revealed that Lubitz had told his bosses that he had suffered from severe depression.

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Summary: Investigators say the co-pilot of the doomed Germanwings flight accelarated the plane's descent into the French Alps.


04/08/2015 AT 12:40 PM EDT

Admitting to a belief in aliens has long carried stigmas of varying severity, but

may have the last laugh, according to new revelations from NASA.

"I think we're going to have strong indications of life beyond Earth within a decade, and I think we're going to have definitive evidence within 20 to 30 years," NASA chief scientist Ellen Stofan

"We know where to look. We know how to look," Stofan added. "In most cases we have the technology, and we're on a path to implementing it. And so I think we're definitely on the road."

NASA intends to launch the next Mars rover in 2020 and hopes to have astronauts on the red planet in the 2030s. The scientists are also planning a mission to Europa, one of Jupiter's moons, that could launch by 2022.

A NASA Terrier-Black Brant research rocket

Drew Hamilton / Department of Defense U.S. Army White Sands Missile Range / AP

For deeper space exploration, NASA has the $8.8 billion James Webb Space Telescope, launching in 2018. The device will examine the atmospheres of nearby alien planets, looking for gases that may have been produced by living beings.

Let's just hope this goes better than

Summary: "I think we're going to have strong indications of life beyond Earth within a decade," Ellen Stofan said


If you’re still reeling from the record number of car recalls last year and wondering what it all means, you’re not alone. In 2014 about 62 million US vehicles were recalled; that’s the equivalent of about four years’ worth of cars sold here, or about one out of every four cars on the road today.

And there could be even more recalls in 2015 as federal regulators make it a priority to root out design defects. Some of the largest recalls, including those involving Takata’s air bags and 1.5 million older Jeep Grand Cherokee and Liberty sport-utility vehicles for fuel-tank punctures, were demanded by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

“If the system is working better to pick up [defects] and we’re catching them sooner and more easily,’’ said Mark Rosekind, the head of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, “we might actually see an increase.”

Have carmakers been asleep at the drawing board or on the assembly line? And will the recalls result in better practices and safer cars? The answer to both questions is yes. Several big manufacturers have made defective vehicles in the past and in some cases tried to cover it up. But the resulting publicity has turned a harsh spotlight on the problem and created an expectation of safer vehicles.

Recall notices require action. Consumers need to do their part by participating fully in recalls. If you get a notice, Consumer Reports recommends that you take it seriously. Too many car owners don’t respond to them, so the free safety fix is never done. A 2012 federal study found that 21 to 25 percent of the problems covered by recall notices between 2006 and 2010 remained unrepaired. Carfax, which tracks used-car vehicle histories, calculated that more than 36 million cars now on the road have uncompleted recall work.

In some cases, owners don’t know there’s a problem because they bought their cars used and the previous owners didn’t get the work done. Other times, automakers lose track of who owns the car because it has been sold and resold a few times. But a lot of people simply disregard the recall letter, especially if their cars don’t show signs of the problem described. That’s a mistake.

“You’ve got to pay attention to all [recalls],” Rosekind says. “A recall means it’s a safety issue. But we’re looking at increasing our communications to help people understand them more clearly. We want them to be safe, but they’ve got to take action as well.”

Track down recalls. It’s easy to find out whether your car has an unresolved recall repair. With your vehicle identification number (VIN) in hand, go to your automaker’s website or to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s site at safercar.gov, punch in the number, and see whether recall work is pending. Or call any franchised dealer for your brand. More information is at ConsumerReports.org/carrecalls.

Report a problem. If you notice that something seems wrong with your vehicle, say something. Get involved. If your car develops a problem you think could put you or someone else in danger, such as a fuel leak or a serious steering or braking defect that’s not related to wear and tear, report it to the automaker’s customer-service department and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s safety hot line. Automakers and the government depend on consumer complaints to find out about safety concerns and do something about them. If no one reports a problem, it’s as if it never existed.

Summary: If you’re reeling from the record number of car recalls and wondering what it all means, you’re not alone.


04/23/2015 AT 12:10 PM EDT

Free time is a distant memory for new mama

. But when she does find an hour to spare, it's safe to say she'll spend it kicking back with her new favorite show.

The actress, 27, chatted about her latest TV obsession

at Per Se, hosted by

editor in chief Linda Wells. And her addiction to HGTV's home renovation hit practically has her moving on down to Texas.

"Oh my god ... watching

. Chip and Joanna Gaines – what they do with the homes they renovate is just incredible," Lively told PEOPLE.

"I've practically looked into enrolling my kids in school in Waco," she joked about relocating to the Texas city where the show takes place.

"Current goal: Move family to Waco. Infiltrate the lives of @TheMagnoliaMom and @chippergaines. Eat stuff, Build stuff. Smash stuff," the actor, 38, Tweeted

Current goal: Move family to Waco. Infiltrate the lives of @TheMagnoliaMom and @chippergaines. Eat stuff. Build stuff. Smash stuff.

Well, mission accomplished! Lively and Reynolds have found new pals in the local entrepreneurs, the actress explained.

"Ryan and I have actually become friendly with Chip and Joanna, and they are just amazing," she said.

"Joanna emailed me the other day to say she liked a watch she saw on Preserve, but it was a man's watch, and did I think she could pull it off? I assured her she could and it would look great on her."

Will the Gaines duo hook some sort of celebrity cult following with

star hooked on the show, too.

evening and often Tweets from the couch.

It's an #HGTV night! #FixerUpper pic.twitter.com/kSzFkmKZHO

Summary: "I've practically looked into enrolling my kids in school in Waco," she said about relocating to the Texas city where her favorite series takes place


Nikki Reed and Ian Somerhalder

05/14/2015 AT 02:25 AM EDT

The honeymoon might be over for

, but they are still totally loved up.

actor, 36, posted a sweet photo with his new wife, 26,

on Wednesday, writing, "Feet back on US soil aka... New York City. Dreaming of the Costa Rica rainforest. Thank you to this beautiful country: it's land and its people. Thank you to this beautiful woman who makes every day a dream come true. Pura Vida"

in California at the end of April.

They jetted off for a sexy, sun-kissed honeymoon that saw them making stops

, where they met up with Somerhalder's

Summary: The couple have returned to the U.S. after a sun-kissed honeymoon


WASHINGTON, June 30— An estimated million or more college students will have to prove genuine financial need in order to qualify for federally guaranteed loans in future school years.

The ''needs test'' for loans was approved last week by both the Senate and House as part of the Administration-backed package of budget cuts for the fiscal year starting Oct. 1. Various differences between the Senate and House versions will have to be settled in Senate-House conference.

The changes in the loan progam will go into effect this Oct. 1 and will not affect loans made for the coming academic year. While the changes approved by Congress were endorsed by the Administration, President Reagan did not get everything that he originally proposed.

For example, Mr. Reagan had proposed halting Federal payment of interest on loans while students were still in college. Instead, both the Senate and the House voted to require borrowers to pay an initial fee in obtaining loans, with the funds used to reduce that amount of subsidy that the Federal Government would pay otherwise. Fee for Loan Must Be Set

The bill passed by the Senate would set the initial fee at 5 percent; that passed by the House, at 4 percent. This is one difference to be settled in conference.

The President also asked earlier this year that the tighter eligibility for student loans become effective this July 1. Members of Congress, fearful that banks might drop out of the program and thus affect loans for the coming school year, set the effective date at Oct. 1.

Despite the fact that the loan changes approved by Congress were less stringent than those proposed earlier by the Administration, higher education officials have expressed concern that many students will become ineligible for loans or will qualify for much smaller loans.

Under current law, a student can borrow up to $2,500 a year regardless of family income, with the Federal Government guaranteeing repayment to the lending institution in event of borrower default.

A major difference between the programs passed by the two houses is that the Senate version would automatically make eligible for such loans all students from families earning up to $25,000 a year. Only those above that income level would have to show remaining financial need. The House version would require a needs test for all income groups, even those earning no more than $25,000 a year. Impact of 'Needs Test' Seen

In the House floor debate over budget reductions last week, Representative Paul Simon, Democrat of Illinois, who is chairman of the House Education and Labor Subcommittee that oversees higher education legislation, predicted that 1.3 million students would be denied loans under the new ''needs test.''

As approved by both the Senate and House, the responsibility for setting up the needs test is delegated to the Secretary of Education. In a letter read on the House floor last week, Secretary of Education T.H. Bell said that he would devise a needs test that was ''both flexible and generous'' in order to ''assure the eligibility of students from middle-income families'' and that would be ''sensitive to various family circumstances.''


BUDAPEST— Can Hungary, with only 11 million people, provide a model for the larger, less-prosperous members of the Warsaw Pact, such as Poland and the Soviet Union?

Many Hungarians think so, but they put the matter in the most delicate possible way. Joszef Bognar, a distinguished economist and former Cabinet minister, said the other day that nations whose own economies were not working would have to draw their own conclusions, because ''little countries living in the shadow of great powers shouldn't make suggestions.''

''Britain,'' he said, ''is a more sophisticated country than the United States, at least as far as foreign policy is concerned, but it tries to let the United States take the lead, or to give the impression that it's doing so. For us, it is even harder. Existing as an island of relative content in a sea of misery is never the easiest of situations.''

And that is how the Hungarians tend to view their position as they look out across a disheveled Eastern Europe, dominated by the chaos in Poland. Not Typical for East Europe

In many ways, Hungary hardly seems a Communist nation. It is a country where people say what they think, where the real news of the day is broadcast on television, where Western oil companies compete for the motorist's business, where there is plenty to eat, where political discontent is slight and where a casino has been opened in a Budapest hotel.

But the reality of Soviet power, and the prospect that it might yet be used in Poland, is never far from policy-makers' minds. Such a development would put an end to the benefits that Hungary has derived from detente and, quite possibly, lead to demands from Moscow for greater ideological conformity.

It was therefore with great relish that Government officials and others here read a back-page editorial in Pravda, the Soviet Communist Party newspaper, on Dec. 7 that commended in great detail the successful Hungarian experiments in the fields of agriculture, industrial development and trade. It was by far the most explicit Soviet endorsement to date of the quietly but decidedly revolutionary policies of Hungary's leader, Janos Kadar.

According to well-informed sources, the Soviet Prime Minister, Nikoli A. Tikhonov, said many of the same things in a visit to Budapest just before the crackdown in Poland. 'The Others Get Angry'

Even that, however, is unlikely to stampede the Hungarians into trumpeting their own virtues too loudly. Most of them would agree with the rather sour, and perhaps envious, comment of an Eastern European envoy stationed here, who said recently that ''when a father praises one of his children to an excessive degree, the others get angry.''

For Mr. Kadar this must have been, apart from worries over the Polish situation, a satisfying year. Exactly 25 years ago, he came to power by courtesy of Soviet tanks. His chances of rebuilding the country, let alone winning political acceptance, seemed slim. That is precisely what he has done, in a way that it has been done in none of the other Warsaw Pact countries.

''Kadar,'' said an admiring Western European diplomat, ''has reestablished political legitimacy. He has regained what the Chinese used to call the Mandate of Heaven - the sense on the part of the people that it is somehow right that he should hold power.''

Perhaps because the Hungarian Communist Party had actually been driven from power, something that has not happened elsewhere, Mr. Kadar was faced with the need to respond to public demands. He did so, building a new economic system, flexible and full of incentives, with the help of 11 commissions of economists and other advisers. A Pragmatic People

The character of the Hungarian people helped. Unlike the Poles, Hungarians are not romantics most of the time, although they succumb to the occasional doomed outburst of political passion, as in 1848 and 1956. For the most part, they are pragmatists quite accustomed to life as a small nation squeezed between great powers - the Austrians and the Ottoman Turks, the Soviet Union and the West - and quite adept at bettering their lot through hard work and guile.

Their energy is noticeable to the foreigner on many levels, whether in the industry of the peasantry, which produced enough ducks and salamis and tomatoes not only to meet domestic needs but also to leave a large surplus for export, or the good-humored bustle with which an attendant fetches coats from the racks after a performance at the Erkel Theater, or the long hours and the obvious intelligence that are taken for granted here in senior Government officials.

Hungarians are also tremendously proud - of the unusualness of their language, of their national heroes such as Kossuth, of their products such as the big, sleek Ikarus buses that ply the streets here and in dozens of other European capitals.

Mr. Kadar has played on such feelings, encouraging this year's lavish commemorations of the centennial of Bela Bartok, the national composer, and uttering an occasional suggestion that it would be nice to regain Rumanian Transylvania (but never loudly enough to cause an international fuss). Leader Has Few Critics


WAS HINGTON— In the absence of a clearly defined policy on the sale of conventional arms, the Reagan Administration seems willing to sell more highly sophisticated weapons to a wider variety of countries than any previous administration. A case in point is the pending sale of 24 F-16 fighters to Venezuela.

The sale was approved after only brief Congressional debate, yet it will mark the first time that the United States has sold such a sophisticated warplane to a Latin-American country, raising the specter of an expensive and destabilizing arms race in the region.

If it was necessary to sell a sophisticated jet fighter to any country in Latin America, Venezuela would certainly be an excellent choice. It is, after all, one of the few successful democracies in the region and a key ally. With this sale, in contrast to other recent arms sales, there is little or no concern that Venezuela might misuse the F-16's we will provide. (Let us remember, however, that the Argentine Navy, which carried out the invasion of the Falkland Islands, is largely equipped with ships and aircraft supplied by the United States.) Venezuela is modernizing its air force and is able to pay the $615 million price.

Why, then, should this sale be viewed with concern? First, it violates a long-standing United States policy of not selling sophisticated weapons to Latin-American countries. After this sale, others, such as Brazil, Colombia, Argentina, and Chile might feel obliged to match Venezuela's high-performace aircraft, and this would lead to an arms race that few countries in the region could afford.

Second, it undercuts the Administration's rationale for development of the medium-performance FX fighter. Countries that we want to assist, but which do not need a front-line fighter like the F-16, would be offered the FX. However, once the F-16 sale has been made to Venezuela - in addition to already contracted sales to Israel, Egypt, South Korea, and Pakistan -it will be difficult, if not impossible, to convince others to accept something less than the high prestige F-16.

Third, it is questionable whether Venezuela needs as sophisticated an aircraft as the F-16 to counter Cuba's potential military threat. The existence of Cuban MIG-23's is cited as the principal threat to Venezuela and its oilfields. However, considering that the maximum combat radius of a MIG-23 is 600 miles and that the shortest distance between Cuba and Venezuela is 610 miles, it is doubtful that an attack from Cuba could seriously threaten Venezuela.

In defense the sale, the Administration notes that Cuba is helping to construct a large airfield on Grenada, off the Venezuelan coast. To date, however, there is no evidence that military-support facilities such as fuel tanks, maintenance shops, or arms depots, which would be necessary to sustain an air attack, are also being constructed on Grenada.

Finally, and most important, the sale of F-16's to Venezuela illustrates the Administration's lack of a realistic policy on the sale of conventional arms. Arms sales, according to the Administration, will be made on a case-by-case basis. However, making sales on such a basis really amounts to no policy at all.

This approach does not provide guidelines for the rest of the world to follow when considering whether to ask the United States for arms. It also ignores the regional settings in which arms transfers are made. A recipient country's acquisition of arms inevitably will affect the fears and desires of its neighbors and the stability of its entire region.

The Carter Administration's policy, more honored in the breach than observance, was that arms sales were to be an ''exceptional'' policy instrument. The burden of proof that a sale was in our interest was to lie with those favoring a sale. By contrast, the Reagan Administration views sales as an ''indispensable'' component of foreign policy. The burden of proof now clearly has shifted to those who would oppose a sale.

Arms sales can be an important part of foreign policy, but they must be made judiciously, and with an understanding for and appreciation of the region involved. We are selling F-16's to Venezuela because the Venezuelans requested them, they are good friends, and they can pay for them. There should, however, be better tests than desire, friendship, and ability to pay if we are to avoid becoming an indiscriminate supplier of arms.

An assessment of arms-control implications of sales, regional rivalries, and military threats faced by a recipient would be a good place to start. --------------------------------------------------------------------- Christopher J. Dodd, Democrat of Connecticut, is a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.


SACRAMENTO, Calif., Feb. 9— David Miller, a spokesman for the United States Department of Energy in Las Vegas, said today that atomic explosions did not occur on the dates given by an former Army medic who said he helped cover up reports of high-level radiation contamination among servicemen involved in the tests.

The discrepancy in dates would undermine allegations made by another Army veteran, Van R. Brandon, who said at a news conference Sunday that he was ordered in 1956 and 1957 to keep two sets of records, one false and the other accurate, of soldiers' radiation exposure in four atomic tests at Yucca Flat, Nev.

Mr. Miller said today that Government records showed atomic tests were not conducted on the dates and, in one case, at a place specified by Mr. Brandon. The Government said most of the dates given by Mr. Brandon matched those of ''safety experiments'' that did not result in nuclear explosions or the release of large amounts of radiation.

Asked in a telephone interview about the discrepancies, Mr. Brandon said, ''All I can tell you is what I told you. I know what I saw.'' Mr. Brandon had said he observed a nuclear test in November 1955 and participated in keeping bogus books in February 1956, March 1956, June 1956 and April 1957. He said he might be a month off in his dates, but no more.

In a telephone interview, Mr. Miller said records showed safety experiments were conducted at the Nevada test site at roughly the same times: in November 1955, January 1956, March 1956 and April 1957. He said there was no record of a June safety test and that there were ''no atomic tests at the Nevada test site in the year 1956.''

Mr. Brandon said four of the atomic explosions were set off at the Nevada test site and the fifth, in March 1956, was a test of an atomic cannon in New Mexico. Mr. Miller said records showed no atomic testing in New Mexico since the first atomic bomb was set off there in July 1945. He also said he has been unable to find records of Mr. Brandon's pre sence at the Nevada site.


ACCRA, Ghana, Jan. 15— In the two weeks since he seized power for the second time in two years, Jerry J. Rawlings has dismantled or suppressed most democratic institutions in Ghana.

Officials and supporters of the civilian Government of President Hilla Limann, whom Mr. Rawlings overthrew Dec. 31, are being pursued and arrested. More than 200 political prisoners are reportedly being held in Accra and Kumasi, 125 miles northwest of here. Mr. Limann was said to be fleeing the country when he was arrested. Vice President Joseph de Graft Johnson, who was arrested a few days later, has been beaten by guards while in custody, according to senior Ghanaian officials.

The country is being run by a seven-member Provisional National Defense Council, whose members were announced this week. Mr. Rawlings, 34 years old, is the chairman. Each of the council's six other members is known to be a leftist. Three members are civilians 'People's Revolutionary' Forces

The regime is formally considering calling the Ghanaian military the People's Revolutionary Armed Forces. ''People's defense committees'' are being set up in neighborhoods, as are workers' councils to monitor production in factories.

''Rawlings's own rhetoric is more Marxist and leftist than it was in 1979,'' said a senior African diplomat based here. In recent days, Mr. Rawlings has said little publicly about what specific measures will be undertaken.

Many Ghanaians say they are concerned about the rowdy behavior of the soldiers, even though the public generally seems to support the seizure of power by Mr. Rawlings, a former flight lieutenant. In Accra, three Lebanese businessmen said they had been accosted by soldiers who stole radios and stereo equipment from their homes and then beat them up.

Mr. Rawlings has warned that soldiers caught looting will face ''unprecedented revolutionary justice,'' and Ghanaian officials say privately that four soldiers have been execut ed for looting.

But some soldiers are apparently undeterred. In Kumasi, soldiers were reported to have gone into the shops of local traders Wednesday, pillaged them and then burned the buildings. Critical Reports Are Banned

Ghana's newspapers, most of which are state-owned, are forbidden to publish reports critical of the new regime. Mr. Rawlings personally ordered the suspension of six editors at The Daily Graphic, one of two English-language newspapers published in Accra.

The University of Ghana in Accra has been closed, with students and faculty members ordered to form ''task forces'' that will go to agricultural areas and assist farmers in increasing production.

Businessmen have been placed under tight restrictions. The bank accounts of a dozen prominent traders, some of them Lebanese, have been frozen. No businessman is allowed to withdraw more than the equivalent of about $125 from banks each week, and individuals cannot take out more than about $37.

The Rawlings regime has made it clear that foreigners will no longer be allowed to engage in retail trade . Soldiers have closed stores and ar ressted a dozen shopkeepers of Nigerian and Mali citizenship. Airport Is Being Monitored

The regime is also closely monitoring Accra International Airport and the border posts near Togo and the Ivory Coast. Exit permits are required for all people wishing to leave the country, and the permits are difficult to obtain.

Applicants must go to Accra National Stadium and line up at dawn. Ministry of Interior officials often run out of the forms that applicants must fill out. Some travelers at the airport have reportedly been refused permission to leave even though they had permits.

The passport office near the airport is besieged daily by thousands of Ghanaians. Western embassies have similarly been flooded by visa applications.

The country's judicial system is paralyzed, with judges saying privately that since the Constitution has been suspended they are not sure what legal system prevails. Mr. Rawlings has said that ''people's tribunals'' will soon be set up to mete out ''revolutionary justice'' to those charged with ''crimes against the people.'' Two weeks after the coup, there is no sign of the tribunals.

Illustrations: photo of Jerry J. Rawlings


06/12/2015 AT 11:50 AM EDT

, the man who deliberately

, feared going blind and saw 41 doctors in the last five years, prosecutors said.

On Thursday, French prosecutor Brice Robin met with grieving relatives of the 150 people who died. Afterwards, he spoke about new developments in his criminal investigation.

Lubitz, 27, didn't just fear he was going blind; he also took sick days at work, upped his dosage of an antidepressant and reached out to doctors with his concerns.

Just two weeks before the crash, he sent an email to one doctor saying he had doubled his dose of an antidepressant after experiencing near-sleepless nights because of issues with his vision.

Some of the doctors that saw Lubitz thought he was unfit to fly, but "unfortunately that information was not reported because of medical secrecy requirements," Robin said. According to German patient secrecy laws, doctors risk being sentenced to prison if they release information about their patients unless there is evidence that they intend to commit a serious crime or harm themselves.

Robin told reporters that "without a shadow of a doubt â¦ Mr. Andreas Lubitz deliberately destroyed the plane and deliberately killed 150 people, including himself."

Information from Lubitz's computer tablet also showed he had investigated vision problems. He had seven medical appointments in the month before the crash, including three with a psychiatrist, and he had taken eight sick days off work.

"He even said to some of those close to him that given this vision loss, life no longer had meaning," Robin said.

As for the families of the victims, German lawyer Peter Kortas, whose firm represents relatives of 34 victims, said negotiations with the airline on compensation have now begun.

"In this moment everything else is not as important as the fact that the bodies, [the] remains be returned to their families," Kortas said. "It's already more than two and a half months since the crash happened, so it's finally necessary to get to closure."

Summary: Lubitz emailed a doctor on March 10 and said that he could only sleep two hours a night and wanted urgent help, according to a French prosecutor


So what's driving yields so low? Central banks have served a role by buying fixed-income securities, but he says there's more to it than that.

"The story is longer and deeper than that; it's not just central banks," Shiller said on Thursday. "It's something about our investment opportunities and our fears and our culture, so it's a very deep phenomenon. And the question in my mind is: Will it last?"

Not likely, says Shiller, given that many long-term bond yields around the world are fast approaching zero on an expected inflation-adjusted and even nominal basis.

"We can't go below zero, not far below zero," he said. "it seems to me this 'new normal' culture could last, but then it could crash."

"I think it's a risky time to be investing in long-term fixed income," the economist said.

Still, that doesn't mean that a crash in bond prices is around the corner.

"Yields have been trending down since 1981, over 30 years now," Shiller added in an email to CNBC on Thursday. "There could be a major turning point again in coming years, but I see no reason to think that such is imminent."

Summary: After calling the stocks and real estate bubbles, Nobel Laureate Robert Shiller now has a new source of concern: The bond market.


Earnings: JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Johnson and Johnson, CSX, Yum Brands, Fastenal, Commerce Bancshares

6:00 a.m.: NFIB small-business survey

8:15 p.m.: Kansas City Fed President Esther George

Earnings: Bank of America, BlackRock, US Bancorp, Delta Air Lines, PNC Financial, Intel, Netflix, ASML Holding, Wintrust Financial

8:30 a.m.: Empire State survey

10:00 a.m.: Fed Chair Janet Yellen semiannual testimony before House Financial Services

12:25 p.m.: Cleveland Fed President Loretta Mester on economic outlook

3:00 p.m.: San Francisco Fed President John Williams on outlook

Earnings: Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Google, Sclumberger, Advanced Micro, Philip Morris, UnitedHealth, Blackstone, Charles Schwab, KeyCorp, Sherwin-Williams, Taiwan Semiconductor, Domino's Pizza, Mattel

10:00 a.m.: Philadelphia Fed survey

2:30 p.m.: Fed Chair Yellen semiannual testimony before Senate Banking Committee

Earnings: General Electric, Honeywell, Kansas City Southern, JB Hunt, Synchrony Financial, WW Grainger

Summary: U.S. stocks closed more than 1 percent higher, following gains overseas on news of a bailout agreement between Greece and its creditors.


07/23/2015 AT 11:05 AM EDT

Public Enemy rapper Flavor Flav has been charged with DUI following his arrest last May in Las Vegas, the

According to the Nevada Highway Patrol, Flav – born William Jonathan Drayton – was stopped on May 21 for going 87 m.p.h. in a 65-m.p.h. zone.

in May that Drayton, 56, was arrested on suspicion of DUI, marijuana possession, having an open container of alcohol, driving a vehicle with suspended registration and driving with a suspended license.

AP reports that on July 16 he was officially charged with two of those – having an open container of alcohol and driving under the influence. Drayton was additionally charged with speeding.

The rapper was arrested on similar charges in January 2014 when he was charged with speeding, driving on a suspended license and possession of marijuana.

Summary: Public Enemy rapper Flavor Flav was arrested last May in Las Vegas


A team of professional hockey players can run up a pretty big meal tab — so big, in fact, that Boston Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs is fighting the Internal Revenue Service in US Tax Court for the right to deduct the full cost of feeding Zdeno Chara, Tuukka Rask, and their teammates during road trips.

The case may involve burly athletes and what court documents describe as the “large portions” they consume at team meals on the road, but it could have broader implications for businesses that send workers off-site and foot the bill for food and beverages.

“A business retreat where all employees are required to dine together would be very similar,” said Philip Garrett Panitz, a tax attorney at Panitz & Kossoff, a law firm in Westlake Village, Calif. “The Bruins need to show that this is an ordinary and necessary business expense. I think they have a good argument.”

Jacobs’s legal action, first reported by Bloomberg BNA, is a response to a notice the team received in April in which the IRS claimed the Bruins owe a total of $85,028 in taxes from 2009 and 2010. In an appeal filed in July, the Bruins said the missing payments were the result of their practice dating back to 2007 of taking 100 percent tax deductions for team meals during road trips.

The IRS limits deductions for meal expenses to 50 percent in most cases.

The Bruins contend the 50 percent cap — contained in a section of the tax code for “entertainment, amusement, or recreation” — should not apply because fueling world-class athletes for competition is a fundamental part of their business.

“In short, the pregame mandatory meals and the meetings at away city hotels allow the club and the players to prepare for the upcoming game — both physically and mentally,” the petition by the Bruins owner said. “In this regard, the pregame meals and the meetings serve as a necessary component of the Bruins’ hockey operations.”

Sean M. Akins, an attorney for the Bruins, declined to comment on the case. He added that he “can’t speak to” whether the Bruins have continued the practice of taking a 100 percent deduction for meals in the years since 2010. A Bruins spokesman also declined to comment.

Professional sports clubs and athletes routinely deduct other expenses that may seem recreational to most people but are business basics to them — everything from hockey pucks to therapeutic massages.

The National Hockey League said it is assisting the Bruins in their legal battle, believing the case could set a precedent.

“The league supports the position that the club is taking in the case and is therefore coordinating the litigation for the potential benefit of all of its member clubs,” Bill Daly, NHL deputy commissioner, said in a statement. “This is often done in individual club cases where the outcome may or will have an effect on a large number of similarly situated clubs or the league as a whole.”

Several other clubs, including the Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, and New York Rangers, did not respond to Boston Globe inquiries about their tax deduction practices.

Locally, at least one pro sports team needn’t worry about the issue. Red Sox players have to pay for their clubhouse meals, according to spokesman Kevin Gregg. Red Sox principal owner John Henry also owns the Globe.

The Celtics declined to comment on their practice. The Patriots did not respond.

Last year the IRS included employer-provided meals on a list of top tax priorities for 2014 and 2015, and auditors have reportedly been cracking down on the free food served up by some companies. The Wall Street Journal reported last fall that the IRS has sought back taxes from workers at technology giants like Google Inc., Facebook Inc., and Twitter Inc. — famous for their generous office perks — on the principle that a complimentary lunch is a taxable fringe benefit.

In the Bruins’ case, the IRS demanded payment from the team, rather than individual players. Tax specialists said the success of the club’s appeal could hinge on whether the Bruins can persuade the court that their “business premises” are not confined to TD Garden but rather extend to whichever city the next game will be played in. The tax code offers a specific exemption to deduction limits for food and beverages “furnished on the business premises of the taxpayer primarily for his employees.”

“For each away game, the Bruins travel to the away city and set up a base of operations at a local hotel,” the team wrote in its petition. “The away city hotel is the club’s business premises during the club’s travels in the away city.”

For a day, at least, the hotel replaces the Garden as the Bruins’ home. Players and staff watch film, receive medical treatment, and eat there before morning practices and again before evening games. The meals double as strategy sessions, according to court documents, and “are critical to each Bruins player’s job and to the club’s ultimate purpose of playing, and winning, professional hockey games.”

“Prior to its arrival at the hotel, the team sends a tightly designed menu to the hotel catering service,” the team added. “For example, the meals are heavy on carbohydrates and come in large portions, and the team dictates exactly what proteins, fruits, and vegetables must be available.”

Jennifer A. Ray, a partner in the tax group of the Washington law firm Crowell & Moring, said the Bruins could claim that team meals “are not really meals in the traditional sense.”

“Everyone needs food to survive, but these meals are for more than mere survival,” Ray said. “They’re fuel for performance. That would be an interesting argument. I haven’t seen that.”

Summary: A team of professional hockey players can run up a pretty big meal tab — so big, in fact, that Boston Bruins owner Jeremy Jacobs is fighting the Internal Revenue Service in US Tax Court for the right to deduct the full cost of feeding the players during road trips.


Gold had dipped to a four-month low earlier this week as concerns mounted over higher US interest rates which could dent the demand for non-interest bearing bullion.

The Fed, however, sounded a cautious note on the health of the economic recovery after its two-day policy meet this week, and slashed its median estimate for the federal funds rate and expressed concern over the strength in the dollar.

"Gold (is) still getting traction from dovishly perceived FOMC statement, short-covering and fresh purchases,'' said HSBC analyst James Steel, referring to the Federal Open Market Committee.

Gold's rise on Thursday despite a higher dollar and weaker oil prices could indicate the underlying strength, he said.

Typically, a stronger dollar dents the demand for bullion as a safe-haven and makes it more expensive for the holders of other currencies. Weaker oil could also reduce gold's appeal as a hedge against inflation.

Read MoreGold trade coming back, if you can wait 2 years: BofA

Post-Fed, SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, saw its first inflows since February 20, also boosting sentiment.

In the physical markets, Chinese buying was steady, with premiums on the Shanghai Gold Exchange staying at a robust $6 to $7 an ounce on Friday. Sustained physical buying could further support prices.

In other industry news, six institutions will start setting gold prices electronically on Friday, as Intercontinental Exchange completes a sweeping change to London's bullion benchmarks and dispenses with the century-old gold "fix'.'

Some of the lowest valuations in decades and rising pressure on Africa's gold producers to restructure or perish are likely to spur a wave of acquisitions in a sector attracting a growing number of potential buyers.

Among other precious metals, silver and platinum were headed for weekly gains after a two-week slide. Platinum continued to trade at about $50 discount to gold, a factor that is likely to stoke physical demand according to the Perth Mint, which is ramping up the production of its platinum coins.

Summary: Gold held recent gains to trade near a two-week high on Friday and was headed for its biggest weekly jump since January.


"Schulmberger is the smartest company in the oil patch and they're making an acquisition that's very, very positive because we have been waiting for consolidation there," Cramer said.

Cramer also said China's move to inject about $22 billion into its economy could help markets recover.

His advice for investors on when to buy on Wednesday: "I just prefer to buy some point intraday where the futures aren't totally in control."

—The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Summary: Despite Tuesday's plunge less than an hour before the closing, Cramer said that a few factors could make for more stable markets on Wednesday.


DENVER, Aug. 28, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- RE/MAX, a global franchisor of real estate brokerage services (NYSE: RMAX), is launching a consumer app for the Apple Watch. Now available in the Apple App Store, RE/MAX Real Estate Search offers location-based search capabilities with scrollable for-sale listing details and agent contact links.

"Creating an app for the latest Apple innovation is just another demonstration that RE/MAX is on the leading edge of real estate technology advancements," said Tim Drouillard, Senior Vice President, Information Technology at RE/MAX, LLC. "Our goal has always been to provide the most reliable information, in the most convenient formats for the largest number of consumers."

The launch of RE/MAX Real Estate Search adds to the collection of mobile applications that RE/MAX has introduced in recent years, including Apps for the iPad, the iPhone and Android smartphones.

"In the past, we created content for the Internet that could also be viewed on other devices. Now, with the tremendous growth of mobile users, we're designing content primarily for smartphones and mobile devices that's also compatible with the traditional Internet platform," Drouillard added.

The RE/MAX Apple Watch app is just one element of a comprehensive RE/MAX technology initiative that is also redesigning remax.com, constructing an enhanced broker-agent intranet and delivering new responsive websites to RE/MAX agents. This technology initiative is designed to provide consumers with easy access to reliable real estate information and offer agents valuable tech tools in a competitive business environment.

Recent online strategies have resulted in remax.com attracting more consumer visits than any other real estate franchise website. (Source: Hitwise Jan. – June 2015 report of all U.S. websites in the "Business and Finance – Real Estate" category)

In the Apple App Store, the RE/MAX Real Estate Search app can be easily found by searching its name or a number of common real estate keywords, such as house search, homes for sale, etc. Although Apple has not released details, industry analysts project that the number of Apple Watch users could be more than 15 million after its first year.

Apple, Apple Watch, iPad and iPhone are registered trademarks of Apple Inc.Android is a registered trademark of Google, Inc.

About the RE/MAX Network:RE/MAX was founded in 1973 by Dave and Gail Liniger, with an innovative, entrepreneurial culture affording its agents and franchisees the flexibility to operate their businesses with great independence. Over 100,000 agents provide RE/MAX a global reach of nearly 100 countries. When measured by residential transaction sides, nobody sells more real estate than RE/MAX.

RE/MAX, LLC, one of the world's leading franchisors of real estate brokerage services, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of RMCO, LLC, which is controlled and managed by RE/MAX Holdings, Inc. (NYSE: RMAX).

With a passion for the communities in which its agents live and work, RE/MAX is proud to have raised more than $150 million for Children's Miracle Network Hospitals® and other charities.

For more information about RE/MAX, to search home listings or find an agent in your community, please visit www.remax.com. For the latest news about RE/MAX, please visit www.remax.com/newsroom.

Photo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20150828/261928 Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20130930/LA87949LOGO

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/remax-launches-apple-watch-app-300134701.html

Summary: DENVER, Aug. 28, 2015/ PRNewswire/-- RE/MAX, a global franchisor of real estate brokerage services, is launching a consumer app for the Apple Watch.  "Creating an app for the latest Apple innovation is just another demonstration that RE/MAX is on the leading edge of real estate technology advancements," said Tim Drouillard, Senior Vice President, Information...


NEW YORK, Aug. 25, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- The following statement is being issued by Levi & Korsinsky, LLP:

To: All Persons or Entities who purchased AGL Resources Inc. stock prior to August 24, 2015.

You are hereby notified that Levi & Korsinsky, LLP has commenced an investigation into the fairness of the sale of AGL Resources Inc. (NYSE: GAS) to Southern Co. for $66.00 per share in cash. To learn more about the investigation and your rights, go to:

or contact Joseph E. Levi, Esq. either via email at jlevi@zlk.com or by telephone at (212) 363-7500, toll-free: (877) 363-5972. There is no cost or obligation to you.

Levi & Korsinsky is a national firm with offices in New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Washington D.C. The firm's attorneys have extensive expertise in prosecuting securities litigation involving financial fraud, representing investors throughout the nation in securities lawsuits and have recovered hundreds of millions of dollars for aggrieved shareholders. For more information, please feel free to contact any of the attorneys listed below. Attorney advertising. Prior results do not guarantee similar outcomes.

Levi & Korsinsky, LLP Joseph Levi, Esq. Eduard Korsinsky, Esq. 30 Broad Street - 24th Floor New York, NY 10004 Tel: (212) 363-7500 Toll Free: (877) 363-5972 Fax: (212) 363-7171 www.zlk.com

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/shareholder-alert-levi--korsinsky-llp-notifies-shareholders-of-agl-resources-inc-of-commencement-of-an-investigation-concerning-the-fairness-of-the-sale-of-the-company-to-southern-co----gas-300132986.html

SOURCE Levi & Korsinsky, LLP

Summary: NEW YORK, Aug. 25, 2015/ PRNewswire/-- The following statement is being issued by Levi& Korsinsky, LLP:. You are hereby notified that Levi& Korsinsky, LLP has commenced an investigation into the fairness of the sale of AGL Resources Inc. to Southern Co. for $66.00 per share in cash. Levi& Korsinsky, LLP Joseph Levi, Esq. Eduard Korsinsky, Esq. 30 Broad Street- 24th Floor New York,...


BURLINGTON — The doors of the tractor-trailer open on a bounty of chicken, Swiss cheese, and sliced onions.A swarm of grocery clerks in blue jackets and managers in red descends on the loading dock, using hand-operated electric jacks to spear pallets of food that the workers stack in the cavernous storage rooms in the back of the Market Basket supermarket.

The dairy manager asks a colleague for help: “You know I’m out of practice.”

Bob McKeown fills a display case with fresh-from-the-fryer doughnuts, a few garnished with smiley faces made of jelly. Samantha Bond decorates a cake to honor the moment, etching the words “Market Basket Strong” in icing and an image of the yellow giraffe that served as the employees’ mascot of sorts during the protest — for “sticking their necks out.”

“There’s a demand for them,” Bond says of the cakes.

And for pretty much anything else the workers can get onto the shelves.

This Market Basket store in Burlington came back to life over the last few days, resuscitated by a cadre of employees eager to get to work after the six-week protest that forced the return of Arthur T. Demoulas as head of the family food empire. Like the others in the 71-store chain, the Burlington store was the scene of a rapid restocking, a huge task involving thousands of pounds of produce, meat, bread, canned goods, and other groceries.

It started early Thursday morning, hours after Demoulas announced he had reached a $1.6 billion agreement to buy out his cousin and take over operations of the chain.

In one spot at the store, the butcher shop received 70 boxes of sirloin tips, boneless pork, spare ribs, and other cuts of meat. Dressed in a tie, white jacket, and maroon Market Basket baseball cap, Roger Picanso carved out chuck roasts with a 10-inch curved knife, while his colleague Erik Vendittelli rotated a bloody hunk of beef to find an entry point to cut Delmonico steaks.

The cuts were placed on Styrofoam trays, which 35-year company veteran Ron Zabierek fed into a wrapping machine, while assistant meat manager Mike Coakley tried to fill the empty display case with finished flats of red meat.

As soon as he could set the meat down, the customers, who had arrived soon after the store opened at 7 a.m., snapped it up.

“This morning’s gone faster than all of last week,” Coakley said.

“It’s better than protesting,” Vendittelli noted.

The first morning back had been about congratulations and hugs and handshakes as customers came in more to talk to employees than to shop. Amid the celebrations, workers admitted to anxious moments during the stoppage. They worried their defiance would cost them their jobs — “I’ve been living on antacids for the last six weeks,” one said — and couldn’t wait to get back to the unglamorous but satisfying routine of running a supermarket.

That routine had returned in full by early Friday.

On that morning, more than a day after Demoulas had won control of Market Basket, the bread vendors showed up an hour early, arriving in the predawn darkness to deliver carts of hamburger buns and pitas and hoagie rolls. At one rack, Charlie Moussalem moved aside wraps from Cedar’s to make room for packs of still-warm Joseph’s pita bread.

Assistant meat manager Mike Coakley welcomed back customer Lennie Palmer.

This summer’s interruption at the Market Basket chain cost Moussalem $2,500 a week, an example of the financial hit that many of the workers suffered during the standoff. With the stores losing tens of millions of dollars in sales, company executives cut back or eliminated hours for thousands of part-timers — the bulk of the chain’s workforce.

“After so many weeks of being without a job, I’m behind on every single bill,” said Sara Umana, 20, who has a 4-year-old-daughter to support.

As she spoke, Umana nimbly placed leafy bunches of baby bok choy on trays in the supermarket’s produce storeroom. She and a cluster of workers tackled a shipment of Asian produce, chatting in Spanish as they unpacked tiny purple eggplants, green papaya, and bumpy red balls of lychee.

Other produce workers stocked freshly packed jackfruit and lotus root out in the store. Then grocery clerk Jack Fiote called out: “Truck’s here.”

They dropped what they were doing to wheel in sacks of potatoes, boxes of romaine hearts, crates of watermelons, and 10-foot-high pallets of plastic-wrapped green bananas.

“You almost missed me, didn’t you?” the driver said to a clerk as he steered a jack piled high with produce.

“Now we’re starting to flow,” said Wayne Breland, a 51-year-old former landscaper from Woburn who started working at Market Basket a year ago, after he had a stroke. His daughter works there, too, in the customer service booth.

In the back of the market, some wide-open storage rooms also began to fill — boxes of pasta and Slimfast and packaged cinnamon rolls in dry goods; stacks of yogurt and juice in the dairy cooler. A pallet of paper towels was rolled to aisle 13, while a case of angel food cake mix headed to the bakery, also buzzing with activity.

“It’s almost like Christmas morning,” said 62-year-old Bryan Southworth, a receiver for the store, as he stood near the loading dock, flipping through a thick sheaf of invoices for seafood, meat, soda, frozen foods, and ice cream.

A Market Basket man for more than three decades, Southworth sports tattooed arms and a pack of Parliaments in his chest pocket. When another truck arrived, Southworth hit the public address system. “Meat, deli, dairy to grocery receiving,” his voice crackled over the loudspeaker. “Perishable order.”

As the members of the crew prepared to unload the truck, one teased the driver: “About time you got here.”

A pleasant bustle filled the store, and everyone was moving a little faster. “Let it Go” from the movie “Frozen” played over the loudspeaker.

The store’s phone kept ringing — part-timers, asking when they should come back. Some, like 75-year-old cashier Ruth Hurley, just showed up.

“I’m feeling an 8 a.m. shift,” front end manager John Garon told her.

They hugged. “If you need me this afternoon, I’ll come back,” she offered.

“I’m just kind of making up shifts right now,” said Garon, 31, whose father was one of the employees fired for leading the protest.

Shelves slowly filled. The seafood case, a black hole a few hours earlier, was suddenly an icy collection of pink salmon, silvery haddock, and dark red tuna. In produce, color gradually returned to the lifeless black bins in the form of glossy green peppers and bright yellow lemons, tomatoes, mangos, and peaches. The customers, hot on the workers’ tails, reached for sweet potatoes and corn as quickly as they were stocked.

The display cases out front were a jumble of four-for-$5 boxes of rice pilaf and $2.99 potato buds, seemingly dumped there by a hurried worker before moving on to another task.

“It’s nice to be here, isn’t it? People don’t get it,” one shopper said as she pushed her cart past another customer. “I couldn’t stay away,” the other replied.

But many customers did, in fact, stay away during the unusual job action, out of solidarity with the protesting workers or because there was no fresh food.

The Burlington store is among the largest in the Market Basket chain. But it had a fraction of the normal traffic of 40,000 customers a week during the work stoppage, and only one of its 21 cash registers was in operation.

“We watched our store go from being completely full all the time to completely empty in a matter of a week,” said Mark Gouthier, the store’s manager. “You hate seeing it that way.”

Zack Wittman for the Boston Globe

Customers examined meat products at the Burlington Market Basket.

Like many other employees, Gouthier has been with the company since he was a teenager. He met his wife at the Market Basket in Haverhill, and their two children work for the company.

On Friday morning, as he took in the scene out back, where yet another truckload of food was arriving unexpectedly, Gouthier marveled as his supermarket came back to life.

“I don’t know how they did it,” he said.

The store was even beginning to sound like its old self: the rattle of grocery carts, beeping of scanners, and wailing of impatient children in the checkout line.

Sixteen registers were open. At one, 75-year-old Daniel Lambrinos, a retired hairdresser from Arlington, bagged groceries and dished out playful lip to customers: “If you kick her in the butt, do you think she’d move?” he asked one of two sisters in the checkout line.

The smell of pizza wafted through the air. Prized pie maker Jose Figueroa is back, rescued from a new job at a Tedeschi store that he was supposed to start that day. “It didn’t cost me as much as Artie T., but I got him,” said kitchen manager Edward Maloney, wearing a white chef’s hat. “Hey — it’s my first Artie T. joke.”

There were no rotisserie chickens or sub sandwiches or chicken parm, but Figueroa’s pizza was in the oven and Tim London was mixing up shrimp scampi. One of the sushi chefs came up from the seafood department, but Melinda Silva already knew he was checking for fried tempura and stopped him before he could ask.

“Not till later on, Sunny,” she said, dumping oil in the fryer one container at a time.

By Saturday, the shelves were nearly full, there were lines at the checkouts, and the parking lot was crowded. Feelings of vindication, relief, and camaraderie were in the air.

“You never know what you have,” bakery manager Pam Charland had said a few days earlier, “until you almost lose it.”

Summary: The Market Basket store in Burlington came back to life over the last few days, resuscitated by a cadre of workers eager to get to work after the six-week employee protest that forced the return of Arthur T. Demoulas as head of the family food empire. Like the others in the 71-store chain, the Burlington store was the scene of a rapid restocking, a huge task involving thousands of pounds of produce, meat, bread, canned goods, and other groceries.


Apple's launch of its Watch in April was its most significant product introduction since the iPad made its debut five years ago.

But, three months in, the response from analysts and consumers bears a greater resemblance to the launch of the iPhone than to the more enthusiastic reception that first greeted the iPad. Despite its subsequent success the iPhone was initially met by confusion and widespread doubts about its prospects.

With no sales figures from Apple to act as a guide, speculation about the Watch's performance has run wild. Estimates for sales so far range between 2m and 5m, with first-year sales pegged anywhere between 10m and 30m.

More from The Financial Times: Apple Pay What it is and how it works Telecom groups in talks to launch e-Sim UK banks put squeeze on Apple Pay fees

Alongside the prospects for future iPhone growth in emerging markets such as China, analysts will be listening keenly for any hints about Watch sales during Tuesday's quarterly earnings call.

Most analysts caution that it is too early to assess its potential, especially in the slow-selling summer months before holiday sales ramp up. But after mixed reviews from the tech press and concerns that the Watch's demonstration tables in Apple Stores have been relatively quiet compared with the iPad's arrival, some analysts are already reining in their forecasts.

Andy Hargreaves, a Pacific Crest analyst, said in a recent note that while initial demand was "very strong", analysis of online search query volume suggested consumer interest has since fallen "below the iPod (with an 'o')".

"Our confidence is declining, which suggests risk to our 2016 estimate of 24m [sales] is increasing," he added.

Ben Wood, analyst at CCS Insight, concedes that his initial estimate of 20m sales by the end of this year may be "a little optimistic".

Read More Gundlach's right about Apple: Analyst

"Is momentum flagging? It feels to me anecdotally it is in the US and UK," he said, noting that it was nonetheless outselling rival smartwatches from the likes of Samsung, LG and Motorola.

Some potential customers were put off by the initial need to make a reservation to try the Watch in-store and having to wait weeks to buy online, due to supply constraints, said James McQuivey of Forrester Research, who forecasts 10m units sold this year.

Those early supply problems have been solved, but some see the plentiful stock in US Apple Stores as a sign of low demand. By contrast, the iPad was at the time the fastest-selling new tech product ever, with 3m units shifted in its first 80 days.

"The fact is we don't need Watches the way we needed tablets," Mr McQuivey said, pointing out that they filled a gap between smartphones and traditional PCs.

Read MoreAdultery site Ashley Madison hacked, user data leaked

Comments from early Watch customers echo that perspective. Cathrine Andersen, a Danish tech entrepreneur working in San Francisco, found her Apple Watch a "disappointment" and returned it after a week.

"I work in an innovation unit of a big tech company so I'm used to trying out new things. I was really excited about the Apple Watch," she said. But after unpacking it, she struggled to set up and personalise the device.

"I felt so stupid. It was a very atypical Apple experience for me," she said. "I expected it to work as soon as I put it on my wrist and it just didn't."

Wolfgang Blau, executive director of digital strategy at Guardian News & Media, wishes he had not bought the Apple Watch.

Summary: With no sales figures from Apple to act as a guide, speculation about the Watch's performance has run wild, the Financial Times reports.


The eyes swivel and follow me round the room, blinking with an echoing clack! Insouciant eyebrows are raised then furrow with a cartoonish human semaphore as I go from work to work, in Ryan Gander's show at Manchester Art Gallery. Feeling the eyes boring into my back, I pretend to concentrate. Thank God a room full of Rembrandts doesn't give you looks like this, portraits waggling their eyebrows as you pass.

Embedded not in a face but a blank wall, the eyes are animatronic, and connected to motion sensors. The eyebrows do a random dance all their own, signalling curiosity, surprise and worry. Maybe the eyes are a kind of self-portrait. They're having a gander, innit.

Like Gander's art itself, the eyes don't give much away. Sometimes it is hard to know what we are looking at, too. Spoofs, mysteries and incomprehensible objects fill the rooms. There's always a back-story to Gander's work, and very often we need a clue or a key to what's going on. Do I detect a look of pity in the eyes on the wall? There are gags here about Hergé's last unfinished Tin Tin book, top-shelf porn mags, TV art documentaries, coins that people glue to the floor for the pleasure of watching others bend to pick them up. Down on all fours, close inspection of the silver coin proves that it is an American "Quarter Centi-Dollar" minted in 2032. There's a story here, but I guess we must wait for years to find it out.

Writing in Hello Kitty-brand toothpaste covers a large mirror, and I catch my reflection through the squiggly calligraphy, which has been copied from a French school primer. I check my teeth as I mouth the fancy French script on the mirror. Is this it? Do I get it? Sometimes Gander makes me feel like a chump, or a dupe to his complications.

A series of pleasing white ceramic shapes stand in a row on a fancy baize-topped zebrawood plinth. They have something to do with the sections of an orange and the Sydney Opera House, as well as a form called a Gömböc, which I have never heard of until today. The arrangement of forms on the baize looks like a puzzle or a trick, but I doubt there's a solution. If art really were only a puzzle, there would be little point in going on, once you've found the answer. I look at a large group of circular paintings on clear Perspex that cover a wall. They look like natty abstractions that have tailed off. Hmmm, like the brushwork, I say to myself, love that ironic exhaustion. Then it turns out they are all palettes for portraits Gander has made, keeping the paintings themselves hidden away somewhere. In an amusing interview with his studio assistants in the big book that accompanies this show, one of his team is asked what Ryan would have been if he had not been an artist. "A painter", comes the reply.

The book, Culturefield, also contains brief descriptions of 288 of Gander's works. He has no consistent style, medium or way of working. Much of what he does needs technical collaboration, not least because he's a wheelchair user and there are limits to what he can make himself. But the ideas are the thing, and he lets his thoughts go their own way. Gander is one of the most complicated artists I know. Untroubled by inconsistency, his main problem is that he never knows when to stop; fizzing with ideas that are good, bad, too-clever-by-half, dumb, labyrinthine, exasperating, incomplete.

Some of his best works appear simple, or not even art at all. Annoyed that his wife wanted to spend good money on an Ikea lamp, Gander went to his shed and cobbled one together from a bricolage of things to hand. It was a bit wonky, and somehow ended up in an art fair (things in art fairs aren't obliged to work as normal objects do) and got sold, so he had to make another. That was sold too and he's still making bloody lamps. A group of them, fashioned from colanders, cable-ties, a discarded guitar stand, bits of piping, a tray, a bed-leg and other bits and pieces light a dark corner of the show. They make you want to go off and cobble one together yourself.

Gander can incite other people's creativity. That's one reason he is trying to open his own art school in Suffolk, where he now lives. It is also why he commissioned a short advert, purporting to have been made by the government Department of Business, Innovation and Skills, to foster "Imagineering", encouraging adults to re-acquire a sense of childhood wonder, in order, the ad says, to create a better future. The advert is flat-footed and cliched, with kids slurping spaghetti and a bloke amazed by twinkly soap bubbles wafting by in the street. It displays a corporate dearth of any imagination whatsoever.

Gander returns to childhood – both its wonder and its pranks, its fetishistic mania for collecting – again and again. One group of marble sculptures replicates his small daughter's indoor dens and hideaways, built from an ad-hoc arrangements of stools, paint tins, opened umbrellas, a laundry drying rack and piles of books, all hidden under draped bedsheets. Gander turns his daughter's temporary, fantasy filled wet-afternoon escapades into marmorial sculpture (cast using marble-dust and resin rather than chiselled from solid stone). As she grows, so her constructions get bigger. But these will never be outgrown.

I go from these to a darkened room containing an impressive, floor-to-ceiling technological device. Who knows what it does. Maybe nothing. The entrance and exits are covered by heavy curtains, that waft in an indoor breeze (reprising a terrific work Gander made for the last Documenta). Why?, you ask, and that seems to be the point. Another work presents us with a sealed-off world, visible through a door-sized glass sheet set into the gallery wall. Beyond is a narrow dirt track, tramping out of sight in a gloom of dense foliage. Who knows where it leads? Gander ensnares me.

The show's title, Make Every Show Like It's Your Last, is bold. Gander has used it before, and it reminds me of some aged trouper's endless final comeback tour. At 38, he is barely into what might be called his mid-career. And as the conversation between his studio assistants reveals, he is still waiting for the Turner prize call, in the way that most of us fantasise our Desert Island Discs half-hour. It is a surprise to me as much as to the artist that the phone hasn't rung.

• Until 14 September. Venue: Manchester Art Gallery

Summary: Eyes in the wall, coins glued to the floor: Gander's new show is full of spoof and childish wonder – he's having a laugh, but is it at our expense, asks Adrian Searle


Stocks ended mostly lower after a volatile day as traders tried to figure out what’s next for interest rates. Bumpy trading followed the Fed’s decision to keep interest rates low for now, citing weakness in the global economy and unsettled financial markets. Investors bet on US Treasuries and precious metals. The dollar weakened against its major counterparts as the threat of higher interest rates abated. Fed chairwoman Janet Yellen said a rate hike is still likely this year. The Fed meets in October and December. ‘‘The market got what it wanted,’’ said Alan Rechtschaffen, a portfolio manager at UBS. ‘‘The market had a ‘rate rant’ last month and that scared the Fed.’’ Interest rates have been near zero since 2008. The last time the central bank actually raised rates was in 2006. Ultra-low interest rates tend to help the stock market because they make bonds, CDs, and other income-producing investments less appealing by comparison. They also make it inexpensive for companies to borrow money to buy back their own shares, which also sends stock prices higher. Oil finished lower. US crude fell 25 cents to $46.90 a barrel. Brent fell 67 cents to $49.08.

Summary: Stocks ended mostly lower after a volatile day as traders tried to figure out what was next for U.S. interest rates.


A homeowner in Houston wants to sell you his house for $150. All you have to do is write the perfect 200-word essay.

The two-bedroom, 1,056 square-foot house is appraised at a market value of $394,000, but owner and real estate agent Michael Wachs insists there isn't a catch, it's just meant to be a fun way to sell his house. (Tweet This)

"We saw an inn in Maine was doing the same thing and thought it could work for selling our house, too," he said. "There's no catch here, though, I'm a Realtor, and my goal is to sell the house."

Read More Housing by the numbers: Something is weird

The house will go to the winning author of the essay the family chooses.To keep things fair, all essays are being judged without identifying information and friends or relatives of the family have been asked not to apply.

It will take Wachs a little over 2,600 essays to make at least market value on his house, but that doesn't look like it will be a problem.

"It started out with a message to 300 of my friends but pretty soon after my site crashed," he said. "A lot of people have submitted an essay; less people have submitted the payment portion." Applicants are asked to pay with Paypal, Square Cash or check.

Read MoreWeekly mortgage applications fall 3.5% as rates rise

Wachs maintains that he isn't beholden to sell his house to an author and reserved the right to sell the house elsewhere if he doesn't find someone through the essay contest.

"We'll take a bunch of things into consideration, but we'll refund everyone if we can't find a new owner."

Wachs is accepting offers until June 13.

You can view the listing here.

Summary: A Houston Realtor and homeowner is looking to sell his house for $150 and a 200-word essay.


It may be too early to chisel BlackBerry's epitaph in stone, but some skeptics continue to work on a first draft. What that epitaph should say, essentially, is that BlackBerry erred in tying its brand too closely to its device.

The struggling firm on Friday reported a monumental $4.4 billion third-quarter write-down for unsold inventory, as the devices have lost appeal. It is trying to save itself with less emphasis on the devices themselves and more on the software and services, like messaging, that the firm offers corporate and government clients. Some investors are buying into the vision of new CEO John Chen, with shares gaining since he was hired to engineer a turnaround.

But once-loyal corporate IT departments are already looking elsewhere. Once they move to other firms' devices, like those from Apple and Samsung, they may not see much reason to stick with services and software from BlackBerry, even if they're perfectly sound. After these customers are lost, they'll be very hard to get back.

"The [BlackBerry] device was the hook and they were supplying everything else. But if I don't want the device anymore, then I move on all together and I get tools that are designed for the new device."—Carolina Milanesi, a technology analyst

Summary: News on Apple, BlackBerry and Amazon portrays a trio of tech giants whose future will be shaped by unique catalysts.


WHERE: CNBC's "Squawk on the Street"

Following is the unofficial transcript of CNBC EXCLUSIVE interview with CNBC's Meg Tirrell and Bristol-Myers Squibb CEO Dr. Giovanni Caforio on CNBC's "Squawk on the Street" live from the ASCO conference today. Following is a link to the interview on CNBC.com: http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000384566.

All references must be sourced to CNBC.

MEG TIRRELL: DR. GIOVANNI CAFORIO, THANK YOU FOR JOINING US. SO YOU GUYS THE BIGGEST MOVER TODAY, YOUR STOCK UP 3.5% LAST I CHECKED, BUT YOU HAD A TOUGH DAY ON FRIDAY. CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THAT DATA IN LUNG CANCER AND HOW YOU THINK PEOPLE ARE INTERPRETING IT.

GIOVANNI CAFORIO: LET ME JUST SAY I HAVE BEEN AT ASCO SINCE FRIDAY THERE IS A LOT OF EXCITEMENT WITH PHYSICIANS AND PATIENT ADVOCATES ABOUT OUR DATA WITH OPDIVO AND LUNG CANCER. IT REALLY POSITIONS OPDIVO AS A FOUNDATIONAL MEDICINE IN LUNG CANCER, MELANOMA, AND THE DATA IS REALLY EXCITING. WE'VE SHOWN THAT IN SOME PATIENTS WITH NON SQUAMOUS LUNG CANCER, WHICH IS THE MOST COMMON FORM OF THE DISEASE, OPDIVO DOUBLES SURVIVAL. THAT'S UNPRECEDENTED DATA. IN NON-SQUAMOUS LUNG CANCER ALMOST DOUBLING THE SURVIVAL AT ONE NEAR, AND OPDIVO WAS THE FIRST PRODUCT TO BE APPROVED BY THE FDA. IN MARCH WE HAD A POSITIVE OPINION IN EUROPE JUST A COUPLE OF WEEKS AGO, SO THE DATA REALLY VALIDATES OUR STRATEGY AND OPDIVO AS A FOUNDATIONAL MEDICINE.

TIRRELL: TELL US WHERE WE STAND RIGHT NOW WITH BIOMARKERS, THIS IS A KEY MESSAGE HERE AT THE MEETING IDENTIFYING WHICH PATIENTS HAVE THESE SIGNATURES ON THEIR TUMORS, MAYBE SAYING WHICH DRUGS WILL WORK BEST FOR THEM, WHICH WON'T BUT HOW DEVELOPED ARE THOSE AND IS THAT GOING TO BE A KEY PART OF YOUR STRATEGY GOING FORWARD?

CAFORIO: SO OUR STRATEGY MEG WITH BIOMARKERS IS VERY CLEAR. WE ARE STUDYING A BROAD POPULATION OF PATIENTS IN ORDER TO REALLY UNDERSTAND WHAT THE ROLE OF BIOMAKERS IS. AND WHAT WE ARE DISCOVERING IS THAT IT IS A CONTINUUM. IT VARIES BY TUMOR, IT VARIES BY LINE OF THERAPY, SO, FOR EXAMPLE, IN A GROUP OF PATIENTS WITH NON-SQUAMOUS LUNG CANCER, OPDIVO DOUBLES SURVIVAL, BUT IN A BROAD PATIENT POPULATION, IT WAS ALSO ACTIVE. WE HAVE A BIOMARKER TEST. WE WILL CONTINUE TO INVESTIGATE THE ROLE OF BIOMARKERS. AGAIN OUR STRATEGY HAS BEEN VALIDATED.

TIRRELL: RIGHT NOW IT SEEMS LIKE THE MESSAGE OUT OF THE MEETING IS USE THE DRUG REGARDLESS OF THE BIOMARKERS TEST RIGHT NOW?

CAFORIO: WHAT WE ARE LEARING IS THAT IT IS A CONTINUUM, IT VARIES BY TUMOR AND CLEARLY THERE ARE MANY PATIENTS THAT RESPOND REGARDLESS OF THE LEVEL OF EXPRESSION OF THIS ONE BIOMARKER PD-L1

TIRRELL: A BIG TOPIC HERE ALSO IS PRICE AND YOU GUYS WERE FRONT AND CENTER IN THE WSJ STORY TODAY ABOUT YOUR COMBINATION OF DRUGS. HOW ARE YOU THINKING ABOUT PRICING COMBINATIONS DO WE NEED NEW WAYS OF PRICING CANCER DRUGS?

CAFORIO: SO OBVIOUSLY WE ARE VERY FOCUSED ON ENSURING THAT OUR PATIENTS HAVE ACCESS TO OUR MEDICINES. THESE ARE VERY VALUABLE MEDICINES THEY PROLONG SURVIVAL. JUST THINK ABOUT 40 YEARS AGO THERE WAS REALLY NO HOPE FOR PATIENTS WITH MELANOMA. YESTERDAY THERE WAS DATA PRESENTED WITH OPDIVO AND YERVOY IN COMBINATION, 60% RESPONSE RATE. INCREDIBLE PROGRESS, DOUBLING SURVIVAL IN SOME PATIENTS WITH LUNG CANCER, THERE WAS REALLY NOT MUCH INNOVATION BEFORE, SO IT'S REALLY IMPORTANT FOR US TO MAKE SURE THAT THIS VALUABLE MEDICINES ARE AVAILABLE TO PATIENTS. OUR EXPERIENCE IN WORKING EVERY DAY VERY PROACTIVELY WITH VARIOUS PROVIDERS IS THAT IN THE PRESENCE OF TRUE INNOVATION FOR REALLY VALUABLE MEDICINES, PATIENTS HAVE ACCESS, AND WE HAVE A VERY COMPREHENSIVE REIMBURSEMENT SUPPORT PROGRAM, PATIENTS ASSISTANCE PROGRAM. WE ARE THINKING ABOUT HOW TO GET OUR MEDICINES TO PATIENTS EVERY DAY.

TIRRELL: I WANT TO ASK YOU MORE BROADLY, AS YOU HAVE JUST TAKEN OVER THE CEO ROLE, HOW DO YOU THINK ABOUT BRISTOL-MYERS' STRATEGY GOING FORWARD, PARTICULARLY IN BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT. DO YOU SEE MAKING BIG ACQUISITIONS DOING MORE PARTNERSHIPS? WHERE CAN YOU BEEF UP? WHERE DO YOU NEED TO BEEF UP?

CAFORIO: OUR STRATEGY DOESN'T CHANGE. WE HAVE SUCCESSFULLY TRANSFORMED THE COMPANY AND NOW WE'RE ENTERING A PERIOD OF SUSTAINED GROWTH, WHAT WE ARE CALLING A NEW CHAPTER, WHICH IS REALLY EXCITING FOR US. BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT IS REALLY VERY IMPORTANT TO OUR STRATEGY. IT WILL CONTINUE TO BE. WE ACTUALLY HAVE A REALLY INTEGRATED APPROACH TO INNOVATION WITH INTERNAL R&D, COMPLEMENTED BY BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT. WE HAVE A PROVEN TRACK RECORD. OF SUCCESS IN PARTNERING WITH BIOTECH COMPANIES, PHARMA, THE ACADEMIC COMMUNITY. THAT WILL CONTINUE TO BE A CRITICAL PART OF OUR STRATEGY. REMEMBER, WE ARE ACTIVE WITH OUR LEADING SCIENCE IN AREA WHERE THE MEDICAL NEED IS VERY HIGH AND WE CAN BRING TRANSFORMATIVE MEDICINES TO PATIENTS THAT'S REALLY OUR STRATEGY.

TIRRELL: I HAVE SO MUCH MORE TO TALK TO YOU ABOUT ONE LAST QUESTION, AS YOU'RE LOOKING AT PARTNERING OR BUYING, ARE THE BIOTECH PRICES RIGHT NOW DO THEY MAKE SENSE TO YOU OR HAVE THEY GONE UP TOO HIGH?

CAFORIO: THERE IS TREMENDOUS PROGRESS IN SCIENCE. THINK ABOUT IMMUNOCOLOGY WE ARE THE PIONEERS IN THE FIELD. WE ARE MAKING PROGRESS VERY, VERY RAPID, SO THE PROMISE IS GREAT. WHEN WE LOOK AT BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT, WE LOOK AT STRATEGIC FEAT, THE STRENGTH OF THE SCIENCE, AND OBVIOUSLY IT MUST MAKE SENSE FINANCIALLY. AND OUR TRACK RECORD IS VERY GOOD. AGAIN, WHAT IS HAPPENING REALLY VALIDATES OUR STRATEGY. I AM VERY CONFIDENT THAT WE ARE AT THE BEGINNING OF A PERIOD OF GROWTH FOR THE COMPANY.

TIRRELL: DR. GIOVANNI, I HOPE WE GET TO TALK MORE WITH YOU SOON.

CAFORIO: THANK YOU FOR HAVING ME.

With CNBC in the U.S., CNBC in Asia Pacific, CNBC in Europe, Middle East and Africa, CNBC World and CNBC HD , CNBC is the recognized world leader in business news and provides real-time financial market coverage and business information to approximately 371 million homes worldwide, including more than 100 million households in the United States and Canada. CNBC also provides daily business updates to 400 million households across China. The network's 15 live hours a day of business programming in North America (weekdays from 4:00 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. ET) is produced at CNBC's global headquarters in Englewood Cliffs, N.J., and includes reports from CNBC News bureaus worldwide. CNBC at night features a mix of new reality programming, CNBC's highly successful series produced exclusively for CNBC and a number of distinctive in-house documentaries.

CNBC also has a vast portfolio of digital products which deliver real-time financial market news and information across a variety of platforms. These include CNBC.com, the online destination for global business; CNBC PRO, the premium, integrated desktop/mobile service that provides real-time global market data and live access to CNBC global programming; and a suite of CNBC Mobile products including the CNBC Real-Time iPhone and iPad Apps.

Members of the media can receive more information about CNBC and its programming on the NBC Universal Media Village Web site at http://www.nbcumv.com/mediavillage/networks/cnbc/.

Summary: CNBC Exclusive: CNBC Transcript: Bristol-Myers Squibb CEO Dr. Giovanni Caforio Speaks with CNBC's Meg Tirrell Today


While some watchers heralded the studio's decision as a watershed moment for the film industry, the distribution experiment was not able to successfully guard against illegal downloads: Only 20 hours after its release, the movie saw more than 750,000 illegal copies downloaded, according to TorrentFreak.

The film was released simultaneously on YouTube, Google Play, and Microsoft's Xbox Live on Dec. 24. But by the time it opened in independent theaters on Christmas Day, "The Interview" already boasted a widely available pirated version.

The movie still grossed $1 million during its first day in theaters, Sony said Friday, but 750,000 pirated downloads at $6 per online rental could mean as much as $4.5 million in lost revenue. According to documents leaked by hackers, the budget for "The Interview" totaled $44 million—with about $20,000 going to Beyoncé and Jay-Z for cameos.

"Well, if they had the originally intended release, and that might be 3,000 theaters, this could have made in the high teen-millions or even break $20 million in the first four days," said Gitesh Pandya, editor of Box Office Guru.

He added, "[The Interview] is a mediocre comedy. It's not a must see film, but because of the controversy it became a pop culture phenomenon."

Pandya contends that Sony could have had more financial damage if one of their major tent-pole movies, like the "Amazing Spiderman" franchise, had been affected. The first and second Spiderman films both had budgets of over $200 million.

Read MoreIndependents'Day: 'The Interview' sells out

"Considering the incredibly challenging circumstances, we are extremely grateful to the people all over the country who came out to experience The Interview on the first day of its unconventional release," said Rory Bruer, president of worldwide distribution for Sony Pictures.

Still, the heavy pirating is one of the reasons why "The Interview" distribution model will never become an industry standard, according to B. Riley & Co. Analyst Eric Wold.

"I think you are still never going to get a large high profile movie to be released simultaneously in theaters and digitally," he said. "Digital distribution simultaneous or early release is still going to be limited to smaller independent film. I don't think this will move digital distribution along more than it was before."

Some had suggested before its release that "The Interview" could have been an important learning moment for Sony and the rest of Hollywood.

Read MoreSony Pictures OKs 'The Interview' online stream

"The upside of it is they're going to have learned a ton, and I think we as an industry are going to have learned a ton about alternative distribution methods, especially in a world where content can be delivered to mobile devices instantaneously," Bubba Murarka, a partner at DFJ Venture, told CNBC's "Squawk Alley" just before the movie became available.

Despite the rampant pirating, the movie's release was still "a success given the circumstances," Wold said, adding that studios may well have to accept that illegal downloads will become "the cost of doing business."

Summary: "The Interview" marked one of the first major studio experiments for digital distribution, and pirated versions appeared immediately.


* Talks with Cerberus Capital, Platinum Equity, others-WSJ

* Bids for PIPE auction are due next week-WSJ

* Shares jump as much as 12.6 pct, before reversing course

(Adds details, background; updates shares)

Sept 10 (Reuters) - Avon Products Inc, which sells cosmetics door-to-door, is in talks with private equity firms about an investment through a stake sale in the struggling company, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

The company is conducting an auction process for a private investment in public equity (PIPE) with firms including Cerberus Capital Management and Platinum Equity, the WSJ reported, citing people familiar with the matter. (http://on.wsj.com/1J0wn4g)

Bids for the auction are due next week, the paper said, adding that such an investment is just one of the options Avon is looking at.

It is unclear what the size of the stake would be or if the deal would go through, the WSJ said.

Avon, valued at nearly $2 billion as of Wednesday's close, declined to comment. Platinum Equity and Cerberus also declined to comment.

Avon's shares were down for most of Thursday before being halted for market volatility. They resumed trading after the WSJ report was published and spiked as much as 12.6 percent. The stock has since reversed course to trade down 4 percent at $4.34.

The company has been struggling to reverse a decline in sales for nearly four years, as it loses representatives - the so-called "Avon Ladies" - in the United States and as it grapples with weak demand in Brazil.

The report comes about four months after Avon was the target of a bogus takeover bid made by a firm calling itself PTG Capital Partners.

The firm, incorporated in a remote archipelago in the Indian Ocean, offered on May 14 to buy Avon for $18.75 per share, nearly three times the company's value at that time.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has since charged a Bulgarian man with being an architect behind the hoax.

(Reporting by Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Savio D'Souza)

Summary: *Talks with Cerberus Capital, Platinum Equity, others-WSJ. Sept 10- Avon Products Inc, which sells cosmetics door-to-door, is in talks with private equity firms about an investment through a stake sale in the struggling company, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday. The company is conducting an auction process for a private investment in public equity...


Police in six European countries have arrested at least 15 suspected members of a militant Islamist group that was planning attacks in Norway and the Middle East.

They said the militants planned to strike Norwegian and British diplomats in the Middle East and politicians in Norway but gave no further information about the potential targets or the time frame for any attacks.

Police in Oslo said there had never been a "concrete or acute threat" against any Norwegian citizens or interests.

The early-morning raids on Thursday targeted the Rawti Shax group, which police said was a Kurdish Sunni Muslim association dedicated to overthrowing the government of Iraq's Kurdistan region and installing rule by sharia, the Islamic code of law and morals.

Italy's national Carabinieri police led the investigation, with security forces in Italy, Britain, Norway, Finland, Germany and Switzerland taking part in Thursday's swoop.

Rawti Shax, which means "The New Course", also has cells in Greece, Sweden, Iraq, Iran and Syria, according to the European Union's judicial co-operation unit Eurojust.

"This was an incredibly difficult and complicated investigation that has been going on for five years," said prosecutor Franco Roberti, the head of Italy's anti-mafia and anti-terrorism unit.

A total of 17 arrest warrants were issued, almost all for Iraqi Kurds, and 15 suspects were picked up immediately.

All of them face international terrorism charges, the Carabinieri said in a statement.

As well as the arrests, authorities in the various countries searched 26 premises and seized electronic devices and documents, Eurojust said in a statement.

Among the suspects was Mullah Krekar, the one-time leader of the Ansar al-Islam militant group. He received his arrest warrant in a prison in Norway where he was already serving an 18-month term for making death threats against a Kurdish man and encouraging others to commit criminal acts in a TV interview.

Krekar went to Norway as a refugee in 1991 and had earlier been deemed a threat to national security. However, Norwegian authorities did not expel him to Iraq because authorities there could not guarantee he would not be executed.

Italy said it would now seek to extradite him.

Summary: Police in Europe say 15 suspected militants they've arrested were planning to strike Norwegian and British diplomats in the Middle East and MPs in Norway.