Activists, farmers and meat industry officials have been anxiously awaiting the new rules, which will be released this spring for public comment and are set to take effect this summer. The regulations are seen as a kind of litmus test for the Obama administration and how far it will go in regulating competition in the meat industry.
At issue is how much power farmers have as they produce cattle, hogs and chickens for large companies such as JBS SA, Smithfield Farms and Tyson Foods. The new rules will govern how meatpackers buy their cattle on an open market and what demands - - - - >

But they were joined for the first time by a trio of new media publications that scored unprecedented recognition in a competition long dominated by newspapers.
On Monday, judges awarded the nonprofit ProPublica, in collaboration with The New York Times Magazine, a Pulitzer in investigative reporting for a 13,000-word story on the life-and-death decisions made by New Orleans doctors during Hurricane Katrina.
“It is a validation,” said Stephen Engelberg, managing editor for the more than two-year-old ProPublica thats based in Manhattan and has only 32 employees. “To be recognized by your peers is an honor and it sort of says to the - - - - >

The Dow Jones industrial average briefly hit the milestone Friday for the first time in 18 months before closing at 10,997.
But Wall Street analysts who study key stock index levels say all the attention paid to 11,000 is more like a big distraction. They worry that investors are ignoring another number at their peril: The surprisingly low volume of trading. As stocks have risen over the past year, the volume reflects the vulnerability of a rally riding on the shoulders of relatively few participants.
And thats given pause even to the bulls.
“It worries a lot of us,” says Wellington Shields Frank - - - - >

Macarthur, a major exporter of pulverized coal used by steelmakers, said its board voted unanimously against Peabodys offer of 14 Australian dollars ($12.91) per share. Macarthur rejected an offer of 13 Australian dollars per share last month.
“Peabodys revised proposal remains highly conditional and does not fully value Macarthur and its significant growth prospects,” chairman Keith De Lacy said in a statement.
The board gave no indication of a possible price it might accept but said Peabodys offer is not an “adequate premium” for control. The American offer is 15.8 percent above Macarthurs closing stock price on March - - - - >

The problem is highlighted by a deadly string of explosions, including one that killed four people Friday at a Tesoro Corp. refinery in Washington state, federal officials said.
The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration got so worried that in 2007 it started a major push for safety inspection in refineries and found more than 1,000 workplace violations in the industry.
“If the aviation industry were having the same number of significant serious accidents as the refinery industry was having you probably wouldnt see people flying too much,” Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board chairman John Bresland told The Associated Press Friday.
The - - - - >

In theory, the effort unveiled Friday would help millions of troubled homeowners who owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth, or who are jobless and need a break on their payments.
But it depends on cooperation from investors and bankers, many of whom have been locked in disputes over whether to reduce the debt owed by homeowners.
And just like the bank bailouts, this rescue plan poses risks. If it doesnt slow the wave of foreclosures or if home prices nosedive, the tentative recovery in the housing market could fizzle.
The Obama administration says the plan will help stabilize the - - - - >

The Commodity Futures Trading Commission is taking up the question, a new twist for an agency with a hands-off approach in recent years toward the financial markets.
The CFTC is holding a public meeting Thursday to gather views from exchanges, banks and traders on restricting the amount of trading in gold, silver and copper futures by market players who are solely financial investors.
The discussion also will focus on how transparent prices are in the metals futures markets and how they are influenced by developments in the physical markets.
The agency in January took a first step aimed at reining in oil speculation, - - - - >

Deputy Treasury Secretary Neal Wolin told the U.S. Chamber of Commerce that a reworking of the financial system was sorely needed and that an attempted obstruction by the Chamber was misguided.
“It is so puzzling that despite the urgent and undeniable need for reform, the Chamber of Commerce has launched a $3 million advertising campaign against it,” Wolin told a business audience as it lunched beneath chandeliers at the organizations ornate headquarters a block from the White House.
Wolins remarks - and a White House meeting between President Barack Obama and leading administration and congressional authors of the regulatory overhaul - signaled - - - - >

The proposal, which still needs approval from creditors, comes after months of talks following Dubai Worlds bombshell announcement in November that is would seek delays in repaying $26 billion in debt. The conglomerates woes have symbolized Dubais plummet from boom years to lean times as the global downturn ravaged the city-states ambitious growth plans.
The chairman of Dubais supreme fiscal committee said in a statement that the support aims to ensure Dubai World and property development arm Nakheel are “key contributors to the strong economic future” of the city-state. The plan offers creditors full repayment on the principal of their outstanding - - - - >

Thursdays vote at a U.N. meeting in Doha, Qatar, rejecting the ban was front-page news in all major Japanese newspapers Friday morning.
Japan consumes about 80 percent of the worlds Atlantic bluefin tuna, and the possibility of a ban had consumers and fish wholesalers worried that prices for the pink and red meat of the fish - called “hon-maguro” here - would soar or that it might even vanish from some menus.
Stocks of the fish have fallen by 60 percent from 1997 to 2007, and environmentalists argue that a trading ban imposed by the 175-nation Convention on International Trade in Endangered - - - - >