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Several dozen tea party activists and other concerned citizens, wave signs and small American flags as they march outside the main Internal Revenue Service office on Tuesday, May 21, 2013, in Phoenix.  The rally was one of many around the country after IRS officials acknowledged that some conservative groups received inappropriate attention and questioning. (AP Photo/Ross D. Franklin)

Broke no laws, IRS official says - then takes 5th

At the center of a political storm, an Internal Revenue Service supervisor whose agents targeted conservative groups swore Wednesday she did nothing wrong, broke no laws and never lied to Congress. Then she refused to answer lawmakers' further questions, citing her Fifth Amendment right not to incriminate herself. In one ...

House passes GOP bill to speed pipeline approval

House Republicans pushed through a bill Wednesday to bypass the president to speed approval of the Keystone XL oil pipeline from Canada to Texas. Democrats criticized the legislation as a blatant attempt to allow a foreign company to avoid environmental review. The bill was approved, 241-175, largely along party lines. ...

In this Aug. 21, 2012 photo, the Hewlett-Packard Co. logo is seen outside the company's headquarters in Palo Alto, Calif. Hewlett-Packard Co. reports quarterly financial results after the market closes on Wednesday, May 22, 2013. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)

HP's 2Q offers hope even as revenue slump deepens

Hewlett-Packard is still scrambling to meet the growing demand for more versatile and less expensive mobile devices as a slump in its personal computer sales deepens, but the company's cost-cutting measures and focus on more profitable areas of technology appear to be easing the pain. The conflicting signs of further ...

Tesla uses stock, note sale to repay government

Tesla Motors, which makes a highly acclaimed $70,000 electric car, has paid off a startup loan from the U.S. government nine years early. The Palo Alto, Calif., company said it wired in a $451.8 million payment to the government on Wednesday. The money, coupled with two prior payments, paid off ...

In this Aug. 11, 2010 photo, specialist John Urbanowicz, left, talks with a colleague on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. Stocks are opening Wednesday, May 22, 2013, slightly higher as investors watch for the latest moves from the Federal Reserve.  (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Stocks fall on news Fed weighed cutting stimulus

The Federal Reserve took financial markets for a ride Wednesday, pushing stock prices up in the morning then sending them down in the afternoon. Prices surged on congressional testimony by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke early in the day that suggested the central bank would not slow its massive economic stimulus ...

FDA panel backs experimental Merck insomnia drug

A federal panel of medical experts said that an experimental insomnia drug from Merck & Co. Inc. appears safe and effective, despite evidence from company trials that the pill can cause daytime sleepiness and difficulty driving. A majority of Food and Drug Administration panelists voted Wednesday that Merck's sleeping aid, ...

Talk of lies, pride as Trump case goes to jury

The attorney for an 87-year-old woman who accuses Donald Trump of cheating her in a skyscraper condo deal told jurors in Chicago on Wednesday that he was personally repulsed by the "Apprentice" star whom he said lied on the witness stand. The comments came during a sarcasm-filled closing argument at ...

Transportation Secretary nominee, Charlotte, N.C. Mayor Anthony Foxx testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 22, 2013, before the Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee hearing on his nomination.  (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Senators warm to transportation nominee

President Barack Obama's nominee for transportation secretary — Charlotte Mayor Anthony Foxx — received a friendly reception from senators of both parties Wednesday laced with warnings that the nation needs to make a host of transportation improvements with no clear way to pay for them. Foxx told a jammed Senate ...

House Judiciary Committee Chairman  Rep. Bob Goodlatte, R-Va., left, and  Rep. George Holding, R-N.C., right, listen to testimony on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, May 22, 2013, during the committee's hearing on immigration reform. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

Key House chairman slams Senate immigration bill

A key House committee chairman on Wednesday sharply criticized a wide-ranging immigration bill just passed by a Senate committee, underscoring the difficulties ahead as the politically volatile measure moves forward in a divided Congress. Separately, a bipartisan House group that has been working behind the scenes to craft its own ...

Am. Samoa to keep flier miles of govt travelers

American Samoa plans to take away frequent flier miles from government workers who travel on behalf of the U.S. territory and use the loyalty points to help medical patients and students travel off the islands when necessary. Hawaiian Airlines agreed to the plan that takes effect on June 1, American ...

In this Thursday, Jan. 10, 2013, photo, hundreds of prospective candidates await their turn to apply for job openings at a Target job fair in Los Angeles. Target reports its quarterly earnings on Wednesday, May 22, 2013. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)

Target's 1Q profit drops 29 pct on weak sales

Target Corp. reported a 29 percent drop in first-quarter profit as unusually cool spring weather and financial pressures chilled customers' appetite for spending. The company, based in Minneapolis, also on Wednesday cut its annual profit outlook, sending its stock down. Target is the latest in a string of companies including ...

FILE - In this Monday, Sept. 10, 2012 file photo, dryers are seen from the inside of another clothes' dryer, foreground, at a Lowe's store location, in Framingham, Mass. Lowe's Cos. Inc. reports quarterly financial results before the market opens on Wednesday, May 22, 2013. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

Lowe's 1Q profit rises, but results miss Street

Lowe's said Wednesday that its first-quarter net income rose nearly 3 percent, but results fell short of expectations as rainy weather hurt spring gardening sales. The No. 2 home improvement retailer's results stood in contrast to those reported a day earlier by Home Depot. Lowe's larger rival reported an 18 ...

El presidente de la Reserva Federal de Estados Unidos, Ben Bernanke, testifica en el Capitolio en Washington el miércoles 22 de mayo de 2013 ante la Comisión Económica Conjunta. (Foto de AP/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

A divided Fed wrestles with when to slow bond buys

The Federal Reserve is torn over when to slow its aggressive efforts to stimulate the economy. Its uncertainty burst into view Wednesday, when Chairman Ben Bernanke testified to Congress in the morning and the Fed in the afternoon released the minutes of its last policy meeting. Stock prices gyrated through ...

Rene Brulhart, director of the  Financial Information Authority, an institution established by Pope Benedict XVI in 2010 to monitor the monetary and commercial activities of Vatican agencies, and Vatican spokesman Federico Lombardi, meet the press at the Vatican, Wednesday, May 22, 2013. The Vatican took another step Wednesday in trying to show greater financial transparency by publishing a first annual report from its financial watchdog agency and announcing new regulations to fight money laundering and terror financing that are expected in the coming weeks and months. (AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia)

Vatican releases 1st report of financial watchdog

The Vatican took another step Wednesday to show greater financial transparency by publishing the first annual report from its financial watchdog agency and announcing new regulations to fight money laundering and terror financing. The report from the Financial Intelligence Authority showed the agency received six internal reports on suspicious transactions ...

Iceland forms center-right govt, halts EU talks

The leader of the center-right Progressive Party was chosen as Iceland's new prime minister Wednesday and promptly announced a halt to talks with the European Union about joining the 27-nation bloc. Sigmundur David Gunnlaugsson spoke about the policy shift at a press conference after being selected premier. "The government intends ...

FILE -- In this photo from files taken in Naples on Jan. 30, 2013, Captian Francesco Schettino speaks to the media. The Italian captain of the Costa Concordia cruise ship was ordered on Wednesday to stand trial for manslaughter in the luxury liner's shipwreck off the coast of Tuscany, which killed 32 people. Judge Pietro Molino, at a closed door hearing in the town of Grosseto, agreed to prosecutors' requests that Francesco Schettino should be tried on charges of manslaughter, causing the shipwreck and abandoning the vessel while many of the 4,200 passengers and crew were still aboard. (AP Photo/Salvatore Laporta)

Trial for captain in deadly shipwreck in Italy

An Italian judge has ordered the captain of the Costa Concordia cruise ship to stand trial for manslaughter in the vessel's shipwreck off the coast of Tuscany, which killed 32 people. Judge Pietro Molino, at a closed-door hearing Wednesday in the town of Grosseto, agreed to prosecutors' request that Capt. ...

Oil falls near $94 on small drop in supplies

The price of oil fell near $94 a barrel Wednesday as the nation's oil supply fell less than expected and demand for gasoline remained weak. Benchmark crude for July delivery declined $1.90 to close at $94.28 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The Energy Department said U.S. crude ...

Fiat Industrial aims to shift tax home to Britain

Fiat Industrial disputed as "absolutely false" reports Wednesday that Italy would lose 500 million euros ($646 million) in tax revenues if it moves its tax base to Britain after it completes a merger with its U.S.-based subsidiary CNH Global NV. But the maker of heavy trucks, farm and construction vehicles ...

Fed weighed slowing its pace of bond purchases

Several Federal Reserve policymakers this month favored slowing the Fed's efforts to maintain record-low long-term interest rates as early as June — if the economy showed strong and sustained growth. But those officials appeared at odds over what evidence would demonstrate such gains. Minutes of the Fed's April 30-May 1 ...

European Council President Herman Van Rompuy smiles as he faces the cameras upon arrival at an EU summit in Brussels on Wednesday, May 22, 2013.  Leaders from the 27 European Union countries gather in Brussels for one of their regular European Council sessions. On the agenda is the increasingly controversial subject of large corporations’ creative tax avoidance schemes. (AP Photo/Ezequiel Scagnetti)

EU steps up fight against tax evasion by end 2013

The European Union's leaders took a major step in tackling tax-dodgers Wednesday by pushing to end bank secrecy across the bloc's 27 members by the end of the year. German Chancellor Angela Merkel hailed the agreement to set up an automatic exchange of bank information among the EU's tax authorities ...

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