Paris

Today, it rains where I am, and I think of lines from Proust when the narrator of the seminal “À la Recherche du Temps Perdu” lies bedridden, weak and in ill health, grows aware of the changing Parisian weather. Read More...

An 'incident in Paris' apparently plays a role in X-MEN: DAYS OF FUTURE PAST plot.

Independent oil refiner and marketer Tesoro has agreed to sell all of its Tesoro Hawaii assets to a wholly owned subsidiary of Par Petroleum (NASDAQOTCBB: PARR), the companies announced  yesterday. The transaction will cost Par $75 million, plus the market value of Tesoro Hawaii's net working capital -- estimated to be between $225 million to $275 million -- and up to $40 million payable over three years based on consolidated gross margins. The sale, which the companies say should be competed in the third quarter, is subject to regulatory approval, the successful restart of Tesoro Hawaii's refinery, and other closing conditions. Tesoro Hawaii reported gross 2012 revenue from its refining operations of $174 million on throughput of 68,000 barrels of crude per day. Revenue for the first quarter of 2013 showed $28 million on 67,000 barrels of throughput a day. "While the Hawaii operations do not align with our strategic focus, we believe they offer a great opportunity for Par Petroleum," Tesoro CEO Greg Goff was quoted as saying. Tesoro told Hawaii state officials in May that it would lay off 165 workers at the Kapolei refinery. Those layoffs were set to begin this week after initial notices were sent out earlier this month. Par said it will partly finance its acquisition by issuing $200 million of common stock it has valued at $1.39 per share, and it will borrow the rest on a revolving credit basis from Deutsche Bank, Barclays, and the Bank of Hawaii. -- Material from The Associated Press was used in this report. link

President Obama's forthcoming Africa trip could cost eight figures. The POTUS and first lady will visit three African nations later this month at the cost of as much as $100 million in taxpayer money. According to a Washington Post report, the trip will run between $60 million to $100 million for security measures. Hundreds of U.S. Secret Service Agents will be dispatched all over the continent to ensure the protection of the Obamas' sub-Saharan Africa trek. Additionally, 24-hour surveillance will be provided by fighter jets, military cargo planes will airlift in 56 vehicles, 14 of which are limousines with triple bulletproof glass. Confidential internal planning documents obtained by the newspaper outlined the security measures, which the White House defended. "Frankly, there will be a great bang for our buck for being in Africa, because when you travel to regions like Africa that don't get a lot of presidential attention, you can have very long-standing and long-running impact from the visit,” national security adviser Ben Rhodes said. Rhodes reiterated that the grandiose price tag is not uncommon. "We don't determine the cost of the president's security, just as President Bush didn't and President Clinton didn't," he said. "The Secret Service is going to do what they think is necessary to protect the president. That's going to come with its own cost. But we don't sit here and say, 'We want to spend X amount of money on a trip.'" Like the commander in chief, Vice President Joe Bidden knows how dominate a travel bill. His hotel tab for a one-night February trip to Paris cost $585,000. -- Photo:

Kevin Parker recorded Tame Impala's psychedelic masterpiece Lonerism mostly alone in a Paris apartment but he had no problem recreating it live when the Aussie band played Bonnaroo on Sunday finding deep grooves in "Elephant" and "Feels Like We Only Go Backwards" "Playing live is a different beast altogether" Parker tells...

WASHINGTON - Le directeur de l'agence américaine de sécurité nationale (NSA) a déclaré mardi que le vaste programme de surveillance électronique du gouvernement américain avait permis de déjouer une cinquantaine de complots terroristes à travers le monde, dont un qui visait la Bourse de New York.Lors d'une audience mardi devant la commission du renseignement de la Chambre des représentants à Washington, le général Keith Alexander a déclaré que les deux programmes de surveillance dévoilés récemment — l'un visant les registres téléphoniques aux États-Unis et le deuxième visant des serveurs Internet américains utilisés par des étrangers possiblement liés au terrorisme — étaient cruciaux dans la lutte contre le terrorisme.Des responsables du renseignement américain ont dévoilé la semaine dernière les détails de deux attaques déjouées, l'une visant le métro de New York et l'autre contre le journal danois qui a publié des caricatures du prophète Mahomet. Le général Alexander et Sean Joyce, directeur adjoint du FBI, ont présenté des détails additionnels sur deux autres complots, dont un qui visait Wall Street.M. Joyce a déclaré que la NSA avait identifié un extrémiste au Yémen qui était en contact avec un individu à Kansas City, au Missouri. Les autorités ont pu identifier les conspirateurs et déjouer un complot contre la Bourse de New York, a-t-il dit.M. Joyce a aussi affirmé qu'un individu qui finançait le terrorisme sur le territoire américain avait été identifié et arrêté en octobre 2007 grâce à un registre téléphonique fourni par la NSA. Cet individu faisait des appels téléphoniques à un numéro associé à un groupe terroriste connu dans un pays étranger.Le représentant républicain Mac Thornberry a demandé si ce pays était la Somalie, ce que M. Joyce a confirmé, tout en précisant que les activités antiterroristes des États-Unis dans ce pays étaient classifiées.Les programmes de surveillance «aident la communauté du renseignement à relier les éléments entre eux», a dit le général Alexander devant la commission, qui tenait une rare audience publique. Il a précisé que les responsables du renseignement fourniraient à la commission des détails plus étoffés sur les 50 complots, de même que le nombre précis de complots déjoués en Europe.More...

Des bouts de papier blanc flottent au-dessus de la foule massée à l'intersection des avenues Presidente Vargas et Rio Branco, un des plus importants carrefours du centre-ville de Rio. Des fonctionnaires lancent des feuilles par les fenêtres des édifices à bureaux, comme pour symboliser la paix et encourager ceux qui ont décidé d'envahir la rue. Des gens masqués se font photographier, des fleurs sont distribuées et des percussionnistes donnent le rythme aux slogans. Ce qui semble être un carnaval est en fait le réveil d'une génération.«Ce n'est pas la Grèce, ni la Turquie! C'est le Brésil qui sort de l'inertie!», scandent les manifestants les poings en l'air. Ils son majoritairement dans la vingtaine, représentent la classe moyenne et ils veulent en finir avec l'immobilisme du pays. Certains brandissent des drapeaux de partis politiques, mais la plupart se contentent des couleurs de leur patrie. Le climat est festif, même si les motifs du rassemblement le sont moins.More...

The Consumer Price Index increased a seasonally adjusted 0.1% for May, according to a Labor Department report (link opens a PDF) released today . After falling 0.4% for April on cheaper gasoline, analysts had expected a 0.2% bump for May's report. Source: Labor Department.  Cheaper energy prices were mostly responsible for both March's and April's drops, but May's 0.4% gain seems to have leveled out its overall effect. Gasoline prices remained constant, although natural gas utility prices bumped up 2.4%. The natural gas index notched its fourth consecutive increase. According to the report, over the past 12 months energy indexes are mixed, with the index for fuel oil falling 5.8% and the gasoline index down 4.1%, while the natural gas index has risen 14.2% and the electricity index is up 1.7%. A 0.1% decrease in food prices for May also tempered April's 0.2% rise. Excluding food and energy prices, May's consumer price index clocked in at up 0.2%, on par with analyst predictions. Major movers included a "shelter index" increase of 0.3% (primarily due to higher rent), as well as a 2.2% increase in airline fares. link

Boeing has received commitments for 102 of its 787-10 Dreamliners, the company announced today at the Paris Air Show. Those commitments come from five customers in Europe, Asia, and North America. Air Lease Corp. will buy 30 of the airplanes. GE Capital Aviation Services is in line to buy 10; International Airlines Group/British Airways, 12 (subject to shareholder approval); Singapore Airlines, 30; and United Airlines , 20 planes. Air Lease Chairman and CEO Steven F. Udvar-Hazy, whose company will also be purchasing three 787-9s from Boeing, said "Both of these airplanes possess ... the ideal size, capabilities and economical operating costs for their medium to long-haul markets." The United Airlines commitment increases its on-order and already-delivered 787s to 65. United is the only U.S. airline to currently fly 787s. Its fleet includes six first-generation 787-8 Dreamliners. Boeing Commercial Airplanes CEO Ray Conner says the 787-10 Dreamliner "will be the most-efficient jetliner in history ... [It] is 25 percent more efficient than airplanes of its size today and more than 10 percent better than anything being offered by the competition in the future." The 787-10, engineered to cover up to 7,000 nautical miles, with seating for 300-330 passengers, is the third generation of the Dreamliner family, but is still on the drawing board. Flight tests for the 787-10 won't begin until 2017, and the first deliveries are not expected until 2018. The second-generation Dreamliner, the 787-9, is set to have its first flights later this year. The original 787 can seat between 210 and 250 passengers while the 787-9 will be able to seat between 250 and 290 passengers. The new 787-10 lists at $290 million, making the deals announced today worth nearly $30 billion at full price, although customers often negotiate deep discounts. -- Material from The Associated Press was used in this report. link

Jun 13, 2013; Ardmore, PA, USA; Dustin Johnson tees off on the 16 the hole during the first round of the 113th U.S. Open golf tournament at Merion Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Matthew O After finishing at +17 over par at The US Open in Merion on Sunday afternoon, Dustin Johnson caught a flight, and will play a European Tour event this week at The BMW International Open. The tournament gets underway on Thursday morning at The Golfclub Munchen Eichenried in Munich, Germany. This will be Johnson’s first trip abroad since the Alfred Dunhill Links last October. He was scheduled to play in South Korea back in April, but elected to forgo the trip due to political unrest in the area. (more…)