NEW YORK (AP) -- Corn futures surged on concern that wet, cold weather in the Plains region will delay planting and reduce harvests.

July corn rose 40 cents, or 6.5 percent, to $6.5975 a bushel. That's the biggest one-day gain since June 25, when last year's drought was pushing up prices.

The price of corn plunged at the end of March after the government said that it expected farmers to plant the biggest crop in almost 80 years. Corn also rose after the government said inventories were higher than analysts had expected. The grain is now regaining some of those losses.

"The very cold, damp and wet spring is certainly interfering with planting," said Sterling Smith, a commodities strategist at Citigroup. "That is making the market more than a little nervous."

Wheat and soybean futures also rose.

July wheat rose 24 cents, or 3.5 percent, to $7.1650 and soybeans for the same month climbed 27.75 cents, or 2 percent, to $14.0875.

Metals prices rose, led by palladium and platinum.

Palladium for June delivery gained $17.25, or 2.5 percent, to $699.20 an ounce. Platinum for July rose $30.90, or 2.1 percent, to $1,507.40.

Copper for July delivery rose 4.05 cents, or 1.3 percent, to $3.2265 a pound. Gold for June delivery rose $13.80, or 0.9 percent, to $1,467.40 an ounce. July silver climbed 37.80 cents to $24.166 an ounce.

Metals are recovering some of the losses they sustained after slowing Chinese economic growth prompted prices to plunge April 15. Gold was among the biggest decliners that day, losing $140 an ounce.

In energy trading, the price of oil rose above $94 a barrel Monday after positive U.S. economic data boosted the outlook for demand. The U.S. government said Americans spent more in March as their incomes went up. Also, pending home sales hit a three-year high.

Benchmark crude for June delivery rose $1.50 to $94.50 a barrel in New York.

Wholesale gasoline was little changed at $2.8220 a gallon. Heating oil was unchanged at $2.8668 a gallon. Natural gas rose 16.90 cents to $4.3920 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Designated hosts Pakistan were disqualified from last month's Davis Cup tie, played in Myanmar because of security concerns, after referee Ashita Ajigala ruled that the grass court in Yangon had become unplayable and dangerous.

The Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) appealed against the ruling but the ITF's Davis Cup Committee upheld the Sri Lankan referee's decision at a meeting on Tuesday.

"It was the view of the Committee that the Pakistan Tennis Federation did not organize the tie to the required standards, notably with regard to the quality of the two available courts," the ITF said in a statement.

The tie was played in Myanmar after New Zealand refused to visit Pakistan due to safety concerns.

"The Committee noted that the poor quality of the original match court led the Referee to designate the practice court as the match court," the ITF statement read.

"Following the deterioration of the second court, specifically during the second match, the Referee determined that this court was now unplayable and a risk to player safety.

"The Referee also deemed that the court would not become playable in the next 24 hours due to its poor condition, and awarded the tie to New Zealand."

The PTF could still appeal to the ITF Board of Directors, the statement added.

(Reporting by Amlan Chakraborty in New Delhi; Editing by John O'Brien)

The 31-year-old Alsanousi became the youngest winner in the $50,000-prize's six-year history for the story seen through the eyes of Issa, the son of a Kuwaiti father and a Filipina mother.

"All the judges agreed on the superior quality of this novel, both artistically and also in terms of its social and humanitarian content," the panel's chair Egyptian writer Galal Amin said in a statement on Tuesday.

On returning to his father's homeland as an adult, Issa finds himself in a difficult position.

Rather than the mythical country his mother has described to him, he discovers he is caught between the natural, biological ties he shares with his father's family and the prejudices of a traditional society, which views a child of Kuwaiti-Filipina heritage as socially unacceptable.

Alsanousi's work has appeared in a number of Kuwaiti publications, including Al-Watan newspaper and Al-Arabi, Al-Kuwait and Al-Abwab magazines and he currently writes for Al-Qabas newspaper. He wins $50,000.

His first novel "The Prisoner of Mirrors" was published in 2010 and in the same year won the fourth Laila al-Othman Prize, awarded for novels and short stories by young writers.

Alsanousi beat five other finalists for the prize. Each finalist, including the winner, will receive $10,000.

The other finalists were Iraqi Sinan Antoon for "Hail Mary", Tunisian Houcine El Oued for "His Excellency the Minister", Lebanese author Jana Elhassan for "Me, She and the Other Women", Saudi Mohammed Hasan Alwan for "The Beaver" and Egyptian Ibrahim Issa for "Our Master".

The prize is supported by the Booker Prize Foundation in London and funded by the Abu Dhabi Tourism & Culture Authority, which marks its first year as the new sponsor in 2013.

(Reporting by Paul Casciato; Editing by Alison Williams)

The Syrian Electronic Army claimed responsibility for Saturday's hack.

E! Online said it was working with Twitter to correct the issue, and that an investigation into the attack was underway.

The SEA has taken credit for a string of Web attacks on media targets it sees as sympathetic to Syria's rebels, including the BBC, Al-Jazeera English and the Guardian.

The group claims to have hacked the Twitter feed of The Associated Press last month.

The Dow Jones industrial average rose 44.54 points or 0.3 percent, to 14,745.49, the S&P 500 gained 4.73 points or 0.3 percent, to 1,587.43 and the Nasdaq Composite added 10.99 points or 0.33 percent, to 3,310.12.

(Reporting by Angela Moon; Editing by Bernadette Baum)

The Labor Department said its seasonally adjusted producer price index slipped 0.8 percent last month, the second straight decline.

November's drop in wholesale prices was the sharpest since May.

The Labor Department said data collection was not substantially affected by superstorm Sandy.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected prices at farms, factories and refineries to drop 0.5 percent last month.

Wholesale prices, excluding volatile food and energy costs, rose a modest 0.1 percent after dropping 0.2 percent in October. Economists polled by Reuters had expected core PPI to rise 0.2 percent.

(Reporting by Jason Lange; Editing by Neil Stempleman)

The tumultuous love triangle between human girl Bella Swan, vampire Edward Cullen and werewolf Jacob Black, that has gripped avid fans known as "Twi-hards" for seven years, comes to a tantalizing end as "Breaking Dawn-Part 2" hits movie theaters around the world.

The "Twilight" film franchise, based on a series of novels by Stephenie Meyer, rocketed the three main stars, Kristen Stewart (Bella), Robert Pattinson (Edward) and Taylor Lautner (Jacob), into the spotlight and the first four films have grossed more than $2.5 billion at the worldwide box office.

For director Bill Condon, who shot both parts of "Breaking Dawn" together and split into two movies post-production, the fifth and final film was all about the fans - who get a surprise twist to the ending.

"The real challenge was to make sure it was a satisfying climax," Condon told reporters. "The film opens with an overture of all the main scenes from all five movies, and at the end, I...brought (it) back to the spirit of the old movies."

The movie pays homage to the angst-ridden teenage romance between Bella and Edward that was underscored by the off-screen real-life romance between Stewart, 22, and Pattinson, 26.

"Breaking Dawn-Part 2" shifts the action from a love story to a family story, as the Cullen clan recruit their extended vampire family to protect Bella and Edward's daughter Renesmee from an ancient vampire coven.

"I think it's very sweet, especially the ending of it, I think it's very close to the book as well. It seems to be that it's really made for the fans," Pattinson told Reuters.

GOING OFF BOOK

While the past four films have stayed true to the books, author Meyer and screenwriter Melissa Rosenberg came up with a plot twist that adds a major scene that may surprise movie-goers.

"(The action) is off screen in the novel because we only see what Bella sees, and this was just a way of making visual what some of the other characters might have seen," Meyer told reporters.

"It does feel very surprising. There's something new to see but to me it doesn't seem like it's going hugely off the page," she added.

While the fourth film saw Bella's human life draw to a conclusion when she died giving birth to a human-vampire hybrid baby with new husband Edward, "Breaking Dawn-Part 2," sees Bella as a mother and a newly-transformed vampire.

"The coolest thing about vampire Bella is that I got to play her as a human for so long, and the special parts of each vampire are always informed by the great things that they were as a human and so I got to walk in those shoes," Stewart told Reuters.

"Everything made total sense to me. I waited for so long (to play a vampire), once I finally got it, it was so comfortable, I couldn't wait," the actress added.

"The Twilight Saga," first published in 2005, kicked off a wave of vampire or supernatural-themes books, films and TV shows including HBO's "True Blood," the CW TV network's "The Vampire Diaries" and Richelle Mead's "Vampire Academy" series of young adult novels.

As the sun sets on the franchise Meyer brought to life, the author said that while she didn't rule out the possibility of finding more stories in the vampire-werewolf universe, she had closed the chapter on the Cullens.

"I don't know if I'll ever get back to these (stories). Someday I'll write down what was going to happen next. It's sad knowing I don't have another party with the kids again, I really hope I have a chance to at least see my friends again," she told Reuters.

(Reporting by Piya Sinha-Roy, editing by Jill Serjeant and Marguerita Choy)

The exit of Rice and elevation of Kerry shook up Washington on Thursday and was coupled with the potential for even bolder second-term changes in Obama's national security team next month. Chuck Hagel, a former Republican senator from Nebraska, emerged as the front-runner to serve as defense secretary.

The possible selection of Kerry and Hagel would put two decorated Vietnam War veterans one Navy, the other Army at State and the Pentagon.

Official word on replacements for Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Defense Secretary Leon Panetta in an Obama Cabinet remake could come as early as next week. The choice of Kerry would open a Massachusetts Senate seat, boosting the prospects for recently defeated Republican Sen. Scott Brown to win back a job in Washington.

Kerry, a senator for nearly three decades and the current Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman, has won praise from his Senate Democratic and Republican colleagues and should be confirmed easily, if nominated. He has been Obama's envoy to hot spots such as Afghanistan and Pakistan, the administration's point man in 2010 on a nuclear arms reduction treaty with Russia and was a stand-in for Republican Mitt Romney during Obama's debate preparation.

Hagel was a senior member of the Foreign Relations Committee during his years in the Senate. He and Obama became close while they served in the Senate and traveled overseas together. Hagel has irked some in the GOP with his complaints that the party has moved too far to the right and for his endorsements of Democrats, most recently Bob Kerrey in last month's Nebraska Senate race.

"He's a combat vet who was wounded twice and understands that the decisions we make here are carried out by our young men and women" in the military, said Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., a member of the Armed Services Committee.

It would be highly unusual for Hagel's political moves to sink his nomination, even in bitterly divided Washington.

But Democrats blamed politics for Rice's demise as a possible candidate. They clearly insinuated that Republicans who failed to get any traction in using the deadly September attack on the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, to derail Obama's re-election bid instead took down Rice.

She "deserved far more respect than she was shown by certain Senate Republicans," Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said in a blistering statement late Thursday. "Their behavior was a disgrace to the Senate's tradition of bipartisan cooperation on national security issues and beneath the stature of senators with otherwise distinguished records on national security.

"I hope that moving forward, senators will act based on fact-finding and serving the public interest, not advancing partisan political agendas or settling old scores," Reid said.

In the past month, Arizona Sen. John McCain, Obama's Republican presidential rival in 2008, and Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., had been Rice's harshest critics, threatening to block her nomination. Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., expressed serious concerns. The most damaging blow, however, came from Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, a moderate Republican who voiced doubts not only about Rice in her current job but also when she was a State Department official during the Clinton administration.

All four met with Rice in unusual, private sessions on Capitol Hill where she failed to mollify her critics.

Rice had been widely assailed for a series of Sunday talk show interviews five days after the consulate attack that killed Ambassador Chris Stevens and three other Americans. Relying on intelligence community talking points, she attributed the cause of the raid to widespread protests throughout the Middle East over an anti-Muslim video rather than a terrorist attack by al-Qaida affiliates.

Those much-maligned remarks have dogged Rice since September, but Obama was defiant in defending her. House Democratic women cast the attacks as sexist and racist Rice is African-American and some Senate Republicans were nervous about challenging her after an election in which the GOP struggled with black and female voters.

Up until this week, the White House was still privately challenging the record of Rice's opponents on similar GOP nominations. In Congress, Democrats were more troubled by a steady drip of reports about Rice, from a possible conflict of interest over personal holdings and the Keystone XL pipeline to increased scrutiny about her relationship with the president of Rwanda and the country's backing of a rebel group in Congo, a charge Rwanda denies.

In a letter to Obama, Rice bowed out, saying that "if nominated, I am now convinced that the confirmation process would be lengthy, disruptive and costly to you and to our most pressing national and international priorities. That trade-off is simply not worth it to our country."

She added that she was saddened by the partisanship even before Obama made a nomination, but the country "cannot afford such an irresponsible distraction from the most pressing issues facing the American people."

Obama bemoaned the relentless Republican criticism in accepting Rice's decision to step aside.

"While I deeply regret the unfair and misleading attacks on Susan Rice in recent weeks, her decision demonstrates the strength of her character," the president said.

Kerry is no stranger to the politicization of national security; he was the target of unsubstantiated claims by the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth over his Vietnam record. He acknowledged that experience in his statement Thursday praising Rice.

"As someone who has weathered my share of political attacks and understands on a personal level just how difficult politics can be, I've felt for her throughout these last difficult weeks, but I also know that she will continue to serve with great passion and distinction," he said in a statement.

Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker, who will be the top Republican on the Foreign Relations Committee next year, applauded Rice "for making the right decision to withdraw herself, recognizing the atmosphere and damage a messy confirmation process would cause."

McCain, Graham, Ayotte and Collins said in statements that they respected Rice's decision while vowing to press ahead in getting answers about the Benghazi attack.

The White House said Rice would remain U.N. ambassador. She could become national security adviser should Tom Donilon move on to another position, though that is not expected imminently. The security adviser position would not require Senate confirmation.

___

Associated Press writers Ben Feller and Julie Pace contributed to this report.

The company, which also sells home appliances, consumer electronics and other items, posted net income of $11.8 million, or 35 cents per share, for the three months ended Oct. 31. That compares with a net loss of $12.7 million, or 40 cents per share, a year ago.

Analysts, on average, forecast earnings of 27 cents per share, according to FactSet.

The recent quarter included about $1.4 million in charges related to extending and expanding its borrowing capabilities and moving its headquarters to The Woodlands, Texas. The prior-year period included about $19.2 million in charges.

Revenue increased 11 percent to $206.4 million from $186.6 million. Wall Street expected $198.9 million.

Furniture and mattress sales rose 31.7 percent in the quarter, while demand improved for home office equipment and appliances.

Revenue at stores open at least a year, a key gauge of a retailer's health, climbed 12.6 percent. This metric excludes results from stores recently opened or closed and provides a look at growth in ongoing locations.

Conn's said that revenue for its credit segment increased 22.6 percent to $38.7 million.

For the fiscal year ending in January, Conn's Inc. now anticipates adjusted earnings of $1.55 to $1.60 per share. Its prior outlook was for adjusted earnings in a range of $1.40 to $1.50 per share. The revised guidance assumes revenue at stores open at least a year will climb 13 percent to 16 percent.

Analysts expect earnings of $1.52 per share, with estimates ranging from $1.45 to $1.60.

The company foresees fiscal 2014 earnings of $2.05 to $2.15 per share, which assumes revenue at stores open at least a year will be flat to up 5 percent.

Wall Street predicts earnings of $1.90 per share, with estimates ranging from $1.80 to $2.02.

Conn's also said the president of its credit division, Rey de la Fuente, is leaving after 14 years with the company in order to pursue other opportunities. He will remain with Conn's through Jan. 31, to help with the completion of the transition process.

Separately, the retailer said that it is selling about 1.4 million, and certain shareholders are selling about 3.6 million shares in a public offering that started Monday.

Conn's said that it will give the underwriters a 30-day option to buy up to about 750,000 shares to cover any excess demand.

Conn's stock slipped 17 cents, to $28.10 in morning trading on Monday.

The Albuquerque Journal reports that the incident occurred Tuesday afternoon in downtown Santa Fe.

Police didn't immediately provide any additional details. A message seeking comment was left for Hackman's publicists at Guttman Associates in Beverly Hills, California.

Hackman and his wife have a home in Santa Fe.

The 82-year-old actor has won two Academy Awards and been nominated for three others over a career that has spanned five decades.

Hackman took the Best Actor trophy for his portrayal of Jimmy "Popeye" Doyle in "The French Connection" in 1971, and the Best Supporting Actor award for "Unforgiven" in 1992.