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U.S. safety regulators said on Friday that it is likely that more than 13 people died in General Motors cars recalled earlier this year for defective ignition switches. The automaker told Reuters it had raised the number of crashes associated with faulty ignition switches but stood by its count for the number of fatalities. GM recalled 2.6 million older models, including Chevrolet Cobalt and Saturn Ion, to replace defective switches that can cause engines to shut off while driving, leading to a sudden loss of power steering, power brakes and the failure of air bags to deploy in a crash.   true       GM has linked the switch to 13 deaths in cars built and sold between model years 2003-2010. It has never fully explained how it arrived at the figure. Spokesman Jim Cain on Friday said that GM recently informed regulators that it had identified about a dozen more crashes connected with the ignition switch in addition to the previous 35 in had counted. In response to a query from Reut

The class="mandelbrot_refrag"> S&P 500 closed at a record high on Friday, buoyed by a rally in housing class="mandelbrot_refrag"> stocks after better-than-expected home sales and a jump in Hewlett-Packard shares a day after the personal computer maker said it would cut more jobs. The class="mandelbrot_refrag"> S&P 500 ended above 1,900, just below a record intraday high of 1,902.17 set on May 13 and above its record closing high of 1,897.45 the same day. Eight of the 10 class="mandelbrot_refrag"> S&P sector indexes ended higher for the day.   true       The class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Dow Jones Transportation Average .DJT rose 0.8 percent to close at a record high, after hitting a lifetime intraday high of 7,995.39. Housing class="mandelbrot_refrag"> stocks ranked among the market's biggest outperformers, with the housing index .HGX up 1.9 percent. Big tech names like class=

Credit Suisse's ( id="symbol_CSGN.VX_0"> CSGN.VX ) Chief Executive Brady Dougan told a Swiss Sunday newspaper he has no plans to step down and his bank would not need a capital increase despite a $2.5 billion deal with U.S. authorities over a tax dispute. _0"> Swiss lawmakers have been among those calling for Dougan and other executives to resign to allow the bank to make a fresh start after its settlement with U.S. authorities over charges it helped Americans to evade taxes. Asked in an interview with Sonntagsblick if he had thought about leaving the bank, Dougan said: "No. I have been working nearly 25 years for this bank, I'm committed to Credit Suisse, its customers, its staff, its shareholders."   true       Dougan said a capital increase would not be necessary for the bank to meet its goals of posting a capital ratio of at least 10 percent by the end of the year and targeting an 11 percent ratio thereafter. Switzerland's financial

class="mandelbrot_refrag"> China has told its state-owned enterprises to sever links with American consulting firms just days after the United States charged five Chinese military officers with hacking U.S. companies, the Financial Times reported on Sunday. _0"> China's action, which targets companies like McKinsey & Company and The Boston Consulting Group (BCG), stems from fears the firms are providing trade secrets to the U.S. government, the FT reported, citing unnamed sources close to senior Chinese leaders. "We haven't received any notification of this kind," said Margaret Kashmir, a spokeswoman for Strategy& - formerly Booz & Company - in an email, adding that serving clients in class="mandelbrot_refrag"> China and globally continues to be the company's main priority.   true       "We are unaware of any government mandates," added Bain & Company spokeswoman Cheryl Krauss. A McKinsey spokes

Swiss surrealist artist H.R. Giger who designed the monster and revolutionary sci-fi sets for the film "Alien" has died, his museum said on Tuesday. He was 74. _0"> Giger, who was born Hans Rudolf in the eastern Swiss town of Chur in 1940, died on Monday in Zurich from injuries he obtained after suffering a fall, an employee of the H.R. Giger Museum said, confirming reports in Swiss media. Famous for creating the otherworldly creature in Ridley Scott's 1979 horror film "Alien", Giger was awarded an Oscar for Best Achievement in Visual Effects in 1980.   true       The son of a chemist, he studied architecture and industrial design in Zurich, and first experimented with ink drawing and polyester works before moving onto large freehand airbrush works showcasing nightmarish dreamscapes. His work explored the relationship between the human body and the machine, and he created surrealist images of humans fused with industrial parts, a style he described

A Swiss art gallery discovered on Wednesday that it had been named as the sole heir of Cornelius Gurlitt, the reclusive German owner of a hoard of masterpieces discovered accidentally in a tax probe, who died this week aged 81. _0"> The Bern Art Museum said the news "came like a bolt from the blue" as it had no connection with Gurlitt. The collection - put together by his father Hildebrand, a dealer in so-called "degenerate" art for Adolf Hitler - is worth an estimated 1 billion euros ($1.4 billion). Kunstmuseum Bern's director, Mathias Frehner, said in a statement that Gurlitt's lawyer had told him the museum had been named his "unrestricted and unfettered sole heir".   true       The museum's response was tempered by caution since an as yet undetermined number of the works, which include hundreds of masterpieces by the likes of Chagall and Picasso, were looted by the Nazis from their Jewish owners during World War Two. "The

Detroit's three automakers are mulling a request by the city's art museum to help it raise money for a key component of Detroit's plan to restructure its debt and exit class="mandelbrot_refrag"> bankruptcy , representatives of the companies said on Tuesday. Under an $816 million so-called grand bargain, the Detroit Institute of Arts (DIA) would contribute $100 million to ease pension cuts on the city's retirees and avoid a sale of art works to pay city creditors. The rest of the money would come from philanthropic foundations and the state of Michigan, where a $350 million contribution over 20 years or a $195 million lump sum payment needs legislative approval. "Chrysler Group is committed to playing a positive role in Detroit's revitalization. Accordingly, we are reviewing the DIA's request," said Chrysler spokesman Kevin Frazier in an email.   true       class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Ford Motor Co spokesman Todd Nissen

American artist Barnett Newman's abstract painting "Black Fire I" sold for $84.2 million at Christie's contemporary art sale on Tuesday, setting a new auction record for the artist and confirming the buoyancy of the global art market. The price, including buyer's premium, easily surpassed the previous record of $43.8 million set a year earlier for Newman's "Onement VI," and topped the $80.8 million a private Asian buyer paid at Tuesday's sale for Francis Bacon's "Three Studies for a Portrait of John Edwards". All but four of the 72 lots on offer were sold as the post-war and contemporary sale also broke records for works by American sculptor Alexander Calder, sculptor and artist Joseph Cornell and several others.   true       Apart from the two top lots, four more fetched over $50 million, with deep-pocketed collectors from around the globe vying for the most coveted works of art. "These are incredible statistics," B

The world's largest hotelier, class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG), has rejected a 6 billion pound ($10.1 billion) takeover offer from a U.S. bidder, Sky News reported, citing unidentified sources. _0"> Sky said IHG's board met a few weeks ago to consider the offer, but turned it down on the grounds it was too low. A spokeswoman for IHG, which runs 4,700 class="mandelbrot_refrag"> hotels with brands such as Crowne Plaza, Holiday Inn and Intercontinental, declined to comment on the report. Sky said the identity of the bidder was unclear, but cited analysts as saying it might have been Starwood class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Hotels & Resorts or a specialist investment fund such as Starwood Capital.   true       Sky said IHG was braced for the bidder to return with a new offer, or for a rival suitor to come forward. ($1 = 0.5938 British Pounds) (Reporting by Li-mei Hoang; Editing by Mark Potte

Far be it from us to offer tips to class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Warren Buffett , the most celebrated stock picker of his age, but here goes: The Oracle of Omaha has suggested he will hunt for his next "elephant" - his favorite word for big acquisitions -- among energy companies. That could dovetail with the bet he made in 2009 when he bought Burlington Northern Santa Fe railroad, which has turned into an indirect play on the U.S. oil production renaissance: BNSF moves about a third of oil-by-rail, a surging segment of freight rail.   true       So, we have some ideas. Reuters screened for U.S. and Canadian companies with relatively low debt and market capitalizations above $5 billion, among other criteria. First, because Buffett's class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Berkshire Hathaway has about $49 billion to spend, he's said he's looking at capital intensive companies, which offer plenty of chances to put that money to work. He might like a

class="mandelbrot_refrag"> AOL Inc said on Sunday it is starting a programme in class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Israel to assist start-ups, and that it will invest at least $100,000 in as many as 10 projects at a time. _0"> The Internet giant already has a development centre in class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Israel , and its new project, called Nautilus, is meant to give "maximum freedom to entrepreneurs" and "grant them access to all the class="mandelbrot_refrag"> tools and connections of a global company", said Hanan Laschover, chief executive of class="mandelbrot_refrag"> AOL Israel. AOL will escort each start-up, which will be chosen from a variety of fields that are connected to its global activities, for a period of a year, the company said. The first investment will be in Take&Make, AOL said in a statement, a start-up that has developed a platform for "do-it-yourself"

class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Business aircraft are taking to the skies again as many economies around the world improve, but a surplus of jets delivered just before the recession means the equivalent of 2,750 jets remain parked in hangars. An excess of jets is depressing prices for planes, particularly older ones, and clouding the outlook for manufacturers of new jets, such as Bombardier Inc, Gulfstream and Cessna. Some companies are cutting back on corporate jet travel and reducing executives' use of corporate jets for personal trips.   true       With so many jets not being flown, businesses are finding it more difficult to justify new purchases, said Rolland Vincent, president of Rolland Vincent Associates, a jet consulting firm that works with Utica, New York-based JetNet. "It's like having a lot of cars in your driveway," Vincent said. "If you don't use them that much, you're not going to be out shopping for another one." The

Some of the leading U.S. producers of electronic cigarettes are moving their manufacturing to the United States from class="mandelbrot_refrag"> China in response to growing concern about quality and the prospect of tighter federal regulations. In recent weeks, some of the best-selling U.S. e-cigarette companies, including closely held Mistic and White Cloud, announced that they would move production to new, highly automated U.S. factories that would enable them to track ingredients and quality more closely. As a fringe benefit, they even expect costs to be lower than in class="mandelbrot_refrag"> China , the country that invented the battery-powered cartridges that produce a nicotine-laced inhalable vapor. "People are concerned about quality," said Bonnie Herzog, a senior analyst at Wells Fargo Securities, who expects more manufacturing to shift to the United States.   true       "There is varying quality among all these different brands

Albany, New York Sheriff Craig Apple assured a room of concerned citizens that county emergency crews were prepared to handle an oil-train accident involving three or four tank cars. Firefighters have been training to combat railcar fires with foam, and evacuation plans are detailed in a 500-page emergency response plan, Apple told residents in a May 12 address. But he was blunt about the potential impact of a larger derailment: "Look, let's face it, there's going to be mayhem."   true       Albany's tracks handle as much as a fourth of the oil pumped from North Dakota's booming Bakken Shale, or up to several 100-car trains per day, each carrying 70,000 barrels. It is one of several spots along North America's new oil-by-rail corridors where residents and officials are restless, following six fiery derailments in the past 10 months. Some want to limit or halt the traffic, fearful that existing precautions will not prevent deadly blasts, air and water

The "X-Men" mutant superheroes smashed into U.S. and Canadian theaters and collected $90.7 million in ticket sales through Sunday, keeping monster hit "Godzilla" at bay and heading toward a decisive win over a long holiday weekend. "X-Men: Days of Future Past" was expected to bring in $110 million by the end of the U.S. Memorial Day holiday on Monday, distributor 20th Century Fox said. The movie has already earned a global total of $261.8 million after opening at No. 1 in all 119 countries around the world. Last week's winner, monster movie remake "Godzilla", dropped to second place with $31.4 million through Sunday, according to estimates from box office tracking firm Rentrak. Its sales were projected to reach $39 million by Monday.   true       Romantic comedy "Blended" claimed the No. 3 spot, taking in $14.2 million and on pace for about $17 million through Monday. "X-Men: Days of Future Past" is the seventh movi

Whatever investors are worried about right now, those concerns are not showing up in Wall Street's fear gauge. That scares some. On the other hand, it more than likely means that class="mandelbrot_refrag"> stocks will keep taking things slow and steady. The class="mandelbrot_refrag"> CBOE Volatility Index, or VIX, closed on Friday at 11.36, its lowest level since March 2013. That means investors see less risk ahead, particularly with the class="mandelbrot_refrag"> S&P 500 ending at a record high again on Friday.   true       With the typically slow summer months just ahead and little on the horizon to shake the market from its current course, investors could be looking at even lower VIX levels, some analysts said. "It's not that there's no likelihood of a correction. It's that people don't perceive anything to derail the train at this point," said Andrew Wilkinson, chief market analyst at class="m

Seeking a place to work out of the office that is quieter than a bustling coffee shop and provides drinks, printers, Wi-Fi and even petrol? _0"> Regus, a provider of ready-to-use office space, thinks it has the answer. It has teamed up with Shell class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Germany to open up workplace hubs and lounges in 70 petrol stations in and around Berlin that will provide Wi-Fi hotspots, scanners, printers, phone charging and even meeting rooms, depending on the space available.   true       "You already see people working in class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Starbucks , hotel lobbies. They want facilities they're not getting there though, such as printers, phone charging, the ability to sit somewhere quiet and make a phone call," Phil Kemp, global managing director for Regus Third Place told Reuters. The hubs are what Regus terms the 'third place' for workers, the first and second being the office and the home. Working in

A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday revived a lawsuit against United Continental Holdings Inc's United class="mandelbrot_refrag"> Airlines that was brought by a woman who claimed she was not promptly provided a wheelchair in an airport when she asked for one. The opinion, from the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco, said federal law did not pre-empt the woman's personal injury claims under state law. A representative for United could not immediately be reached for comment.   true       Mark Meuser, an attorney for plaintiff Michelle Gilstrap, who has difficulty walking, said some lower court judges had disagreed about whether individuals should be able to bring claims for injuries in an airplane or terminal. "This is a really big deal for disabled Americans across the country," Meuser said. Gilstrap had difficulty walking due to a collapsed disc in her back and osteoarthritis, according to the court opinion. During two separate plane