1. Obama administration extends overtime pay to 4 million more workers
The Obama administration on Tuesday unveiled a rule essentially doubling the threshold where workers are exempt from overtime pay. The rule, which the Labor Department is expected to formally release on Wednesday, raises the threshold from $23,660 a year to $47,476, a change the Obama administration estimates will extend overtime protections to 4.2 million more Americans and boost wages by $10 billion over a decade. President Obama said the change would help "make sure millions of Americans' hard work is rewarded."
2. Wildfires prevent resuming Canadian oil-sands output
Plans to restart Canadian oil-sands output near Fort McMurray, Alberta, were thwarted Tuesday when wildfires sweeping across the region threatened three production sites. The massive blaze, which forced tens of thousands of people to flee their homes earlier this month, have shut down one million barrels of daily crude oil output, nudging up oil prices. The nation's largest oil producer evacuated 8,000 workers from lodging facilities as the fire grew and circled around toward the main operations in the oil-sands, the world's third largest reserves.
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3. Stocks wobble as investors await Fed minutes
Global stocks lost ground and U.S. stocks held steady early Wednesday ahead of the release of Federal Reserve meeting minutes that could provide hints of when to expect the next interest rate hike. Recent comments from regional Fed presidents, along with upbeat data on inflation and industrial production, have increased expectations of interest rate increases in coming months, weighing on stocks. Interest rate futures suggested 15 percent odds of a rate hike in June, up from 4 percent the day before.
Reuters The Wall Street Journal
4. Oil company indicted over California spill
A grand jury has indicted Plains All-American Pipeline and one of its workers on criminal charges for an oil spill in Santa Barbara County, California, last year, prosecutors said Tuesday. The Houston-based oil company faces 46 criminal charges, including four felonies. The employee was indicted on three criminal charges for the spill, in which 143,000 gallons of oil leaked from a corroded pipeline near picturesque Refugio State Beach. About 21,000 gallons reached the Pacific Ocean through a pipe and a storm culvert.
5. National Academy of Sciences again finds GMOs safe to eat
The National Academy of Sciences released a report Tuesday reaffirming its view that genetically modified organisms, or GMOs, are safe to eat. This time, however, the academy, arguably the nation's most prestigious scientific group, devoted greater attention to concerns about the social, economic, and other impacts of genetically modified foods. The anti-GMO group Food & Water Watch attacked the report even before it was released. Patty Lovera, the group's assistant director, said the panel was clearly "pro-genetically engineered crop."
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