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A series of Oxxo convenience stores have been attacked in central Mexico, authorities said on Monday, a sign that strikes targeting businesses may be spreading nearer to the capital. _0"> There were reports that as many as nine stores belonging to Mexico's largest convenience store chain, operated by Femsa , were attacked late on Sunday night, authorities in Hidalgo state and the state of Mexico said. Femsa said two of its Oxxo stores were set on fire and three were attacked by gunmen. Some employees suffered burns but none were seriously hurt, Femsa said in a statement. The State of Mexico surrounds most of Mexico City and borders Hidalgo to the north, and local state prosecutors said the attacks appeared coordinated, echoing recent assaults against businesses in the state of Michoacan in western Mexico. Michoacan, which shares a border with the State of Mexico, has been shaken by fighting between a violent drug gang and heavily-armed vigilante groups, presenting a

Ethiopian Airlines is looking at placing an order for 10-20 narrowbody jets, its chief executive told Reuters on Monday. _0"> Such an order would be worth $1-2 billion at list prices. Ethiopian will probably study proposals from Boeing, Airbus and Canada's Bombardier, a new entrant to the market for roughly 150-seat aircraft, Tewolde Gebremariam said. The airline, which plans to increase its revenues five-fold to $10 billion by 2025, is separately evaluating Boeing's latest wide-body jet, the 406-seat 777X, but has no immediate plans to place an order, he said. Speaking on the sidelines of an Airlines Economics conference in Dublin, he also downplayed concerns over the Boeing 787 Dreamliner following new glitches on the high-tech jet which was grounded over battery problems last year. A Japan Airlines (JAL) Boeing 787 Dreamliner was grounded last week after white smoke vented from the plane and a battery cell showed signs of melting. "We've never had a

The European Commission is expected to launch legal action against Germany over Daimler's refusal to remove a banned refrigerant from new cars, EU sources said on Monday. A final decision on legal action against Germany could be taken as early as Wednesday, two sources, speaking on condition of anonymity, said. Officials have for months been investigating the German luxury carmaker's refusal, backed by Berlin, to follow an EU law banning the air-conditioning coolant known as R134a from the start of last year. The carmaker insists its refusal to phase out R134a, a global warming agent more than 1,000 times more potent than carbon dioxide, is justified by safety concerns. The only available replacement, Honeywell's R1234yf has a global warming potential only four times more than carbon dioxide but Daimler says it can emit toxic hydrogen fluoride gas when it burns. "Germany could so far not prove that R1234yf is so dangerous that a violation of the rule is justified

Doric Lease Corp expects to finalize an order for 20 Airbus A380 superjumbo jets in the next couple of months, a senior executive said on Monday. The Dublin-based leasing firm placed the order, worth $8 billion at list prices, at last year's Paris Airshow, hoping to find new customers for the world's largest airliner following a period of slack sales. In a separate move, Emirates airline subsequently placed a firm order for 50 of the aircraft. But while that order has been confirmed, Doric's purchase remains to be finalized and is widely seen as depending on airlines agreeing to lease it. "Airbus has said it expects to have the order finalized in the next couple of months. That is where we are and where we expect to be," Paul Kent, chief commercial officer, told a conference hosted by Airline Economics. "We will have news relatively quickly on completion," he added. Doric has made progress in placing the aircraft it plans to order, Kent added, but

Peru will likely approve the environmental impact study for Southern Copper's $1 billion Tia Maria project in the second quarter, Energy and Mines Minister Jorge Merino said on Monday. _0"> "We are working closely with the company," Merino told reporters. In mid-December, Merino told state news agency Andina that the key permit for the proposed copper mine in southern Peru would probably be passed within 90 days. Merino said the ministry is evaluating observations made by locals following town hall meetings with the company late last year. In 2011, the previous government rejected the environmental impact study for the project, after violent protests by farmers who said the mine would deplete their water supplies. Southern Copper, an affiliate of Grupo Mexico, has agreed to build a desalination plant. Merino said the company now has the backing of nearby communities, but local opponents continue to hold protests against the mine, saying they were exclud

Extreme weather events including flooding in Alberta and an ice storm that hit Ontario and Eastern Canada cost Canadian insurers a record C$3.2 billion ($2.92 billion) in losses last year, an industry group said on Monday. _0"> The report by the Insurance Bureau of Canada (IBC), an umbrella group of Canadian property and casualty insurers, follows warnings from industry players that premiums will have to rise to cover a rising number of catastrophic claims events. The bulk of the loss stemmed from June floods that shut down the oil industry hub of Calgary, Alberta, and decimated some smaller communities. That flood, which the IBC said was Canada's costliest natural disaster ever, cost insurers C$1.74 billion. A smaller flash flood in Toronto in July resulted in C$940 million in damages, while an ice storm that hit Toronto and other parts of Ontario and Eastern Canada in December cost insurers C$200 million in damage to homes, it said. "Canadian communities are se

GECAS, the world's largest aircraft leasing company, announced an order for 40 Boeing medium-haul passenger jets on Monday, in a fresh boost for the U.S. planemaker's best-selling model. Confirming an earlier Reuters report, GECAS said the order would be split between the current-generation Boeing 737-800 and the future 737 MAX, a revamped jet designed to save fuel with the introduction of new engines, starting in 2017. GECAS is owned by General Electric, which makes the engines for the 737 family in a transatlantic joint-venture shared equally with France's Safran. In October 2012, GECAS ordered 75 Boeing 737 MAX jets and 10 current 737-800s and took options for up to 15 additional 737-800s. Boeing's 737 competes with the Airbus A320. GECAS was formed in 1993 after GE acquired most of the aircraft of the collapsed leasing empire of Irish entrepreneur Tony Ryan and combined it with its own Polaris operation. Most of its 1,700 aircaft are still managed in Ireland .