Nigeria oil line on fire; militants claim attack

An oil pipeline run by a subsidiary of Italian oil firm Eni SpA has ruptured and caught fire in Nigeria as a militant group claimed responsibility for an attack.
The fire happened Saturday night near Brass River in Nigeria’s Bayelsa state. Witnesses told a local environmental group they heard the blast from their homes.
The Movement for […]

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Costa offers $14,460 per person for ruined cruise

Costa Crociere SpA is offering uninjured passengers euro11,000 ($14,460) apiece to compensate them for lost baggage and psychological trauma after its cruise ship ran aground and capsized off Tuscany when the captain deviated from his route.
Costa, a unit of the world’s biggest cruise operator, the Miami-based Carnival Corp., also said it would reimburse passengers the […]

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Spain

Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said Spain is sticking to its deficit goal even as the economy shrinks, underlining a rift in the month-old Cabinet over whether the nation can halve its shortfall during a recession.
De Guindos said the government

Disney CEO Iger’s pay up 12 pct in 2011

Walt Disney Co. has awarded CEO Bob Iger a 2011 pay package valued at $31.4 million, up 12 percent from a year ago. That’s according to an Associated Press analysis of data disclosed to regulators on Friday.
The Burbank-based company says Iger merited a boost in compensation for excellent management in a tough economic environment.
Disney generated […]

St. Louis-based CPI Corp. sued for allegedly misleading investors

A pension fund has sued St. Louis-based CPI Corp., alleging that the portrait studio operator broke federal securities laws by misleading investors about the company’s financial health.
The suit, filed by IBEW Local 98 Pension Fund, is seeking class action status for shareholders who purchased the company’s common stock between April 20, 2010 and December 21, […]

Unions: Nigeria strike over fuel resumes Monday

Two major labor unions in Nigeria say a paralyzing nationwide strike will resume Monday after negotiations with the government failed.
The Nigeria Labor Congress and the Trade Union Congress issued a joint statement Sunday confirming strikes would continue.
The strikes began Jan. 9 over spiraling gasoline prices following the removal of an estimated $8 billion in fuel […]

Fed

Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond President Jeffrey Lacker said the U.S. economy will expand at a

Private hiring soars; seasonal issues cloud gain

The U.S. jobs recovery gathered pace as a measure of private-sector hiring surged in December and claims for unemployment benefits fell, suggesting the battered labor market may continue to strengthen in 2012.
The ADP National Employment Report’s December job tally of 325,000 surprised economists who had expected a gain of roughly half that size. It […]

Japan to Double Sales Tax by 2015 as Noda Fights Off Ruling Party Revolt - Bloomberg

Japan

Egypt forces storm offices of pro-democracy groups

Egyptian security forces stormed the offices of 10 human rights and pro-democracy groups on Thursday, including several based in the U.S., accused by the country’s military rulers of destabilizing security by fomenting protests with the help of foreign funding.
The raids on 17 offices throughout Egypt are part of the ruling generals’ attempt to blame “foreign […]