The news at a glance

Autos: Tough new mileage standards

The Obama administration has released stringent new fuel-economy standards, including the first-ever greenhouse-gas emissions limits for cars and light trucks, said Juliet Eilperin in The Washington Post. By the 2016 model year, each manufacturer’s vehicle fleet must get an average of 35.5 miles per gallon, compared with 27.5 mpg today, and limit emissions of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, and hydrofluorocarbons. The new standards, the administration says, will reduce automotive greenhouse-gas emissions 21 percent by 2030. “The requirements will add as much as $985 to a new vehicle’s cost,” but will save up to $4,000 in fuel over the life of the car, administration officials say.

The administration doesn’t really know how much in savings the new standards will generate, said Douglas McIntyre in 247WallSt.com. “The number of variables that go into creating a forecast of financial data six years from now is infinite.” All we know for sure is that the mileage rules will cost “still-struggling” carmakers a fortune—which sure seems like a strange way to treat companies that we’ve recently spent billions of taxpayer dollars to bail out.

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Executive pay: CEOs get by on fewer millions

The typical U.S. corporate chief executive “took a pay cut in 2009, and a big one at that,” said Matt Krantz and Barbara Hansen in USA Today. Total compensation for CEOs dropped for the second year running, falling 18 percent to a median of $6.6 million, according to research firm Corporate Library. A decline in the value of stock and option awards accounted for most of the drop. Hewlett-Packard CEO Mark Hurd topped the rankings with a $24.2 million pay package, down nearly 30 percent from 2008.

Technology: Toss those 3-D glasses?

Japan’s Sharp Corp. this week unveiled new 3-D liquid crystal displays that “deliver bright, clear imagery without the cumbersome glasses,” said Yuri Kageyama in the Associated Press. “Now the bad news”: At this point, the images must be viewed on a 3-inch screen held a foot from the face. The technology, which directs slightly different images to each eye, has been in development since 2002. For now, the displays will be used in mobile phones, game devices, and cameras, but could eventually be used in televisions.

Music: EMI flirts with loan default

British record label EMI’s financial woes deepened, after the collapse of a deal that would have licensed EMI’s catalog to rival Universal Music Group, said Holly Sanders Ware in the New York Post. EMI, whose roster includes the Beatles and Coldplay, had hoped to clear $300 million to help pay down its $4.5 billion debt. “Without a distribution deal, EMI and its parent, private equity firm Terra Firma, will have to figure out another way to inject money into the iconic British company.”

Aviation: Southwest upgrades its software

Marking “a major milestone in the push to modernize the nation’s air-travel system,” Southwest Airlines has upgraded its cockpit software, said Scott McCartney in The Wall Street Journal. “The radical upgrade” will see new instruments and displays installed in two-thirds of Southwest’s 547-plane fleet. New route-plotting software should result in shorter flights and fewer landing delays. Southwest says the resulting fuel savings will enable it to recoup its $175 million investment in the upgrade.