BC-Business News Digest

Business News at 5 p.m.

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All times EDT.

—Adds: MCDONALD'S-CHINA, GOOGLE FOR WORK, HOME DEPOT-DATA BREACH, MEXICO-NEW AIRPORT, PIPELINE EXPLOSION, DURANT-NIKE, MISSOURI-FAILED FACTORY

—Updates: DETROIT-BANKRUPTCY, BANK-REDLINING LAWSUIT, FINANCIAL MARKETS, AUTO SALES-RISKY HABITS-GLANCE, WASHINGTON POST PUBLISHER, IRELAND-AUSTERITY, CELEB HACKING, CELEB HACKING-CLOUD SECURITY

TOP STORIES:

AIRLINES-UNRULY PASSENGERS

NEW YORK — Squeezed into tighter and tighter spaces by the airlines, passengers are taking their frustrations out on each other. Three U.S. flights made unscheduled landings in the past eight days after passengers got into fights over the ability to recline their seats. Passengers are losing leg and elbow room as airlines try to maximize profits by adding more seats. By Scott Mayerowitz. SENT: 930 words, photo.

CELEB HACKING-CLOUD SECURITY

NEW YORK — When hundreds of photos of nude celebrities began making the rounds online, many security experts started pointing fingers at Internet storage services such as Apple's iCloud. What are these services, what do they do for you, and how can you stay safer using them? By Mae Anderson. SENT: 510 words, photos.

With:

— CELEB HACKING — Nude celeb images posted by hackers this weekend are disappearing from the Internet, with at least one site formerly hosting the photos posting a message saying, "This page is no longer available due to copyright claim." SENT: 400 words, photos.

AUTO SALES-RISKY HABITS

DETROIT — Big discounts. Six- or seven-year loans, in some cases to buyers who would have been turned down in the past. As the auto industry strives to sustain its post-recession comeback, car companies are resorting to tactics that some experts warn will lead to trouble down the road. By Tom Krisher. SENT: 900 words, photo.

With:

— AUTO SALES-RISKY HABITS-GLANCE — Tips on auto financing for consumers with low credit scores. SENT: 250 words.

HALLIBURTON-SPILL SETTLEMENT

NEW ORLEANS — Halliburton's agreement to pay more than $1 billion to settle numerous claims involving the 2010 BP oil spill could be a way to diminish years of costly litigation — if all the pieces fall into place. A federal judge still has to approve the settlement. By Kevin McGill and Jon Fahey. SENT: 290 words. UPCOMING: 600 words by 5:30 p.m.

CHINA-FOREIGN BUSINESS

BEIJING — Foreign companies in China feel increasingly targeted for unfair enforcement of anti-monopoly and other laws and might cut investment if conditions fail to improve, a U.S. business group says. The American Chamber of Commerce in China's report adds to mounting complaints about a flurry of investigations of global automakers, technology suppliers and other companies. By Joe McDonald. SENT: 880 words, photos.

DOLLAR GENERAL-FAMILY DOLLAR

GOODLETTSVILLE, TENN. — Dollar General upped its bid for the rival Family Dollar chain and addressed an earlier roadblock, saying that it will more than double the number of stores it would shed to tamp down the antitrust concerns of its takeover target. The newest bid is worth $9.1 billion, or $80 per share, up from $78.50 per share in the previous offer. SENT: 400 words, photo.

MARKETS & ECONOMY:

FINANCIAL MARKETS

NEW YORK — Concerns over weaker global economic growth appear to outweigh a pair of strong reports on the U.S. economy, nudging stocks to a tiny loss. By Matthew Craft. SENT: 620 words, photo.

HOME PRICES

WASHINGTON — U.S. home prices rise in July but at a slower rate compared with earlier this year. The moderating price increases could help support sales. Real estate data provider CoreLogic says prices rose 7.4 percent in July from July 2013. That was slightly below June's year-over-year increase of 7.5 percent and far below a recent peak of 11.9 percent in February. By Christopher S. Rugaber. SENT: 380 words, photo.

ECONOMY-MANUFACTURING

WASHINGTON — U.S. manufacturing grows in August at the strongest pace in more than three years as factories cranked out more goods and new orders rose. By Christopher S. Rugaber. SENT: 510 words, photo.

CONSTRUCTION SPENDING

WASHINGTON — U.S. construction spending stages a strong rebound in July, rising by the largest amount in more than two years. All major categories of construction showed gains in an encouraging sign that spending on building projects will help boost the economy in the second half of this year. By Martin Crutsinger. SENT: 460 words, photo.

EURO-DOWN AGAIN

LONDON — The euro falls to a one-year low against the dollar as it continues to lose support amid speculation the European Central Bank could start pumping more money into the ailing eurozone economy to spur growth. The bank, which oversees monetary policy for the 18 countries that use the euro, is under pressure to do more at its meeting on Thursday to boost the ailing eurozone economy and get inflation back up toward its target. By Pan Pylas. SENT: 600 words, photo.

INDUSTRY:

NEW NATURAL GAS PIPELINE

NEW YORK — Dominion Resources, Duke Energy and other partners have proposed building a $5 billion natural gas pipeline to connect the Southeast with the prodigious supplies of natural gas being produced in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia. The 550-mile project will begin in Harrison County, West Virginia and stretch to Robeson County, North Carolina, in the southern part of the state. By Jonathan Fahey. SENT: 680 words.

REVEL CLOSING

ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — Atlantic City's newest casino — and its biggest, costliest flop — went out with barely a whimper. Revel Casino Hotel opened a little more than two years ago amid high hopes of turning around Atlantic City's struggling casino market. But the $2.4 billion resort shut down this morning as its casino closed one day after the hotel checked out its last guest. By Wayne Parry. SENT: 720 words, photos, audio.

PIPELINE EXPLOSION

SAN FRANCISCO — California regulatory judges issue a $1.4 billion penalty against the state's largest utility for a 2010 gas pipeline explosion that engulfed a suburban San Francisco neighborhood in fire, killing eight people and prompting national alerts about aging pipelines. By Ellen Knickmeyer. SENT: 690 words.

MISSOURI-FAILED FACTORY

ST. CHARLES, Mo. — The man who persuaded a rural Missouri town and the state to invest millions in bonds and incentives for an artificial sweetener plant that never materialized pleads guilty to three felony charges. By Jim Salter. SENT: 520 words.

— 1-800-FLOWERS-HARRY & DAVID — 1-800-FLOWERS.COM Inc. is buying Harry & David for $142.5 million to help broaden the assortment of foods that its customers can choose as gifts. SENT: 210 words.

— SELECT INCOME REIT-ACQUISITION — Select Income REIT will spend about $2.7 billion in cash and stock to buy Cole Corporate Income Trust in a deal that adds 64 office and industrial properties to the real estate investment trust's portfolio. SENT: 250 words.

— NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINE-PRESTIGE-ACQUISITION — Norwegian Cruise Line is getting into the luxury cruise business by acquiring Prestige Cruises International in a deal worth about $3 billion. SENT: 220 words, photo.

— BANK-REDLINING LAWSUIT — New York's attorney general is accusing mortgage lender Evans Bank of refusing to offer financing to African-Americans living in Buffalo. SENT: 550 words.

— MOELIS-CANTOR — Former House Majority Leader Eric Cantor has a new job as vice chairman and managing director of New York-based global independent investment bank, Moelis & Company. SENT: 130 words.

— DETROIT-BANKRUPTCY — Opening arguments in Detroit's historic bankruptcy trial begin in federal court, where lawyers for the city will attempt to convince a judge that its plans to wipe out billions of dollars in debt should be approved. SENT: 500 words, photo, audio, video.

— MCDONALD'S-CHINA — McDonald's says it will monitor its suppliers in China more closely after a food-safety scandal in the country hurt the hamburger chain's sales and reputation. SENT: 270 words.

— FOOD-NAPA QUAKE-WINE — The first pinot noir grapes of the season came in to Trefethen Family Vineyards as usual, glistening purple mounds stacked in white bins. SENT: 610 words.

— EMPLOYMENT PANEL-CHAIR — Jenny R. Yang has been named as the new chair of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, becoming the first Asian American to lead that agency. SENT: 130 words.

— DURANT-NIKE — Kevin Durant is staying with Nike. Nike spokesman Heter Myers confirmed that Durant will remain with the shoe giant. Myers said in a statement that Nike is "pleased to extend our relationship with Kevin Durant, one of the most exciting players in the game." Nike did not release terms of the deal. SENT: 130 words.

TECHNOLOGY & MEDIA:

NETFLIX-SHARING RECOMMENDATIONS

SAN FRANCISCO — Netflix is giving its Internet video subscribers a more discreet way to recommend movies and TV shows to their Facebook friends after realizing most people don't want to share their viewing habits with large audiences. By Michael Liedtke. SENT: 530 words, photos.

HOME DEPOT-DATA BREACH

NEW YORK — Home Depot may be the latest retailer to suffer a credit card data breach. The Atlanta home improvement retailer tells The Associated Press that it's looking into "unusual activity" and that it's working with both banks and law enforcement. By Anne D'Innocenzio. SENT: 500 words.

PERU-HACKTIVISTS

LIMA, Peru — The Peruvian hackers have broken into military, police, and other sensitive government networks in Argentina, Colombia, Chile, Venezuela, defacing websites and extracting sensitive data to strut their programming prowess and make political points. Now the team calling itself LulzSecPeru has created a national political uproar. Emails the hackers stole from the Peruvian Council of Ministers' network and dumped online last month fueled accusations that top Cabinet ministers have acted more like industry lobbyists than public servants. By Frank Bajak. SENT: 1,270 words, photo.

— WASHINGTON POST PUBLISHER — Katharine Weymouth is stepping down as publisher of The Washington Post and will be replaced by Frederick Ryan, who previously led Politico. SENT: 250 words.

— GERMANY-UBER — A court bars ridesharing service Uber from operating in Germany, the latest shot in the popular app's fight with taxi drivers worldwide. SENT: 260 words.

— COMPUWARE-TAKEOVER — Private equity firm Thoma Bravo is spending about $2.5 billion to buy Compuware and take the software developer private. The companies say Compuware stock owners will receive about $10.92 for each share they own. SENT: 220 words.

— GOOGLE FOR WORK — Google is hoping a new brand will help sell more of its services to other companies. The decade-old division responsible for corporate sales is now known as "Google for Work." It had been called Google Enterprise since the Internet company began to redesign email and other consumer products for business use. SENT: 130 words.

INTERNATIONAL:

JAPAN-INDIA

TOKYO — Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is wooing Japanese businesses with a promise of "red carpet" treatment rather than the bureaucratic red tape that India is notorious for. India is the best possible investment destination, offering "democracy, demography and demand" in its market of nearly 1.3 billion people, Modi told Japanese business leaders. By Elaine Kurtenbach. SENT: 500 words, photos.

UKRAINE-ECONOMY

BRUSSELS — While Ukraine's leaders are trying to win the war against Russian-backed separatists in the east, they appear to be losing the battle to resurrect the country's battered economy. Ukraine might need billions in additional support if the fighting between the military and the separatists in the country's east persists through next year, the International Monetary Fund warned. Only covering the shortfall in the central bank's reserves would require an additional $19 billion by the end of 2015, the fund said. By Juergen Baetz. SENT: 700 words, photo.

— BRITAIN-AIRPORT — Britain's Airport Commission rejects a plan to build a four-runway airport in the Thames Estuary, describing it as more problematic and more expensive than other options. SENT: 150 words.

— CHINA-SHALE GAS — More than 60 percent of China's vast shale gas deposits are in regions with scarce water resources, complicating plans by the energy-hungry country to tap the natural gas, according to a U.S.-based research group. SENT: 190 words.

— SCOTLAND-POUND — The British pound slips sharply after an opinion poll showed that those advocating Scottish independence from the United Kingdom have gained ground, a little more than two weeks before the vote. SENT: 390 words.

— IRELAND-AUSTERITY — Ireland's Finance Department says tax collections from a growing economy are unexpectedly strong and have put the country on course to achieve normal deficit levels after six years of austerity. SENT: 320 words.

— SWITZERLAND-ANTI-CORRUPTION — Advocacy group Transparency International is criticizing Swiss law as too soft on financial corruption. SENT: 150 words.

— GREECE-BAILOUT — Finance officials from Greece have started talks in Paris with the country's rescue creditors, and are hoping to ease emergency taxes that have helped fuel recession. SENT: 120 words.

— MEXICO-NEW AIRPORT — Mexico's president is announcing the construction of a new international airport for the capital that will quadruple the capacity of the current one. SENT: 470 words.

— RUSSIA FUND SANCTIONS — Until last weekend, the Russian Direct Investment Fund touted prominent U.S. and European executives who serve on its international advisory board by posting their names on its website. On Tuesday, that list was suddenly no longer accessible after one adviser recently stepped down. SENT: 130 words.

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CENTERPIECE

Back to school

The clock is winding down on back-to-school shopping. So which retailers are making the cut? The latest round of quarterly reports shows some got off to a good start when the season started in July. UPCOMING: Graphic expected by 6 p.m.

COMPANY SPOTLIGHT

Flower power

1-800-Flowers.com is adding to the range of food items its customers can choose from by acquiring Harry & David for $142.5 million. UPCOMING: Graphic expected by 6 p.m.