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As important stakeholders with thousands of members working in the energy industry, we believe that shareholders will be well served by new directors with industry experience. We look forward to working with Hess to increase the extraction and production of domestic oil and gas, to make sure energy jobs are safe jobs and to continue to fight for America's energy independence.

The half-million members of LIUNA the Laborers' International Union of North America are on the forefront of the construction industry, a powerhouse of workers who are proud to build America.

SOURCE Laborers' International Union of North America

DONIPHAN, Mo. (AP) -- Officials with Exxon Mobil Corp. have repaired an oil pipeline in southeast Missouri, where a leak was discovered earlier this week.

A resident near Doniphan, Mo., found oil leaking in his yard Tuesday. All told, about one barrel roughly 42 gallons of crude oil leaked from the Pegasus pipeline. The cause remains under investigation.

The repair was completed Friday.

The pipeline running from Illinois to Texas already was out of service after a much larger breach in Arkansas in March, but that doesn't mean there wasn't oil inside.

About 5,000 barrels of oil spilled in March. The cause of that leak also is being investigated.

LONDON (Reuters) - British judges ruled on Wednesday that the government has breached European Union air quality law and asked the European Court of Justice (ECJ) for guidance on what action needs to be taken, delaying immediate improvements to air pollution.

Britain's highest appeal court, the Supreme Court, said the government was in breach of an EU directive which put limits on nitrogen dioxide (NO2) - a colourless, odourless gas produced by burning fuels which can damage people's breathing.

London has the highest levels of NO2 of any European capital. Around 29,000 early deaths a year in Britain are attributed to air pollution, according to a body which advises the government.

Before deciding on further action, the Supreme Court referred a number of legal questions to the ECJ in Luxembourg, which could take up to 18 months to answer.

The Supreme Court could eventually force the government to take certain steps to improve air quality but does not have the power to issue fines, according to Alan Andrews, lawyer at the firm ClientEarth which brought the case against the government in 2011.

The environmental law firm wanted to force the government to come up with an air quality plan to comply with European Union limits on N02 concentrations by 2015.

The High Court and the Court of Appeal refused to take action on the issue and the case went to the Supreme Court.

Under the EU directive, member states were supposed to comply with limits on NO2 in 2010 but the deadline could be extended by five years if a plan to deal with high levels of NO2 was delivered.

Court documents show 40 out of Britain's 43 air quality zones exceeded the limits for 2010 and the government's Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has said 23 zones might comply by 2015 and 16 between 2015 and 2020, while London is not expected to comply before 2025.

"This historic ruling marks a turning point in the fight for clean air and will pile the pressure on Owen Paterson," said James Thornton, chief executive of ClientEarth, referring to the UK Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

"He must now come up with an ambitious plan to protect people from carcinogenic diesel fumes," he added, which are largely blamed for creating NO2.

A spokesman for the European Commission said the body could already take legal action against Britain.

"It has not been done yet because we're working through a number of countries because it's easier to bring one horizontal action (against them all)," said spokesman Joe Hennon.

(Editing by Keiron Henderson)

And yet when I set out to buy a new smartphone recently, I was pretty determined to get anything but an iPhone. After flirting with Samsungs much-hyped Galaxy S4, I ended up . Ill get to that, but first I should explain why my decades-old commitment has become strained.

My youthful attraction to Apple was pretty straightforward: I loved the products. They looked good, they worked easily, they were just better.Admittedly, I went through a crisis of doubt at one point in the 1990s: I openly mocked a friend who , and as some software makers abandoned the Mac, I wondered if it was really superior enough to its copycat Windows alternatives to justify the extra money. But of course Apple turned things around. The computers got sexy again, and I took great delight in showing off my first-generation iPod to a bunch of envious Microsoft employees. Ive upgraded countless times since.

Then, sometime last year, I contemplated my iPad and iPod Touch, sitting next to my MacBook Pro and I felt a little queasy. Was I enjoying Apple products, or mindlessly addicted to them? Around the same time, theto make way for an inferior, me-too map product. Id always shrugged off complaints about Apples top-down control over the user environment who cares if its a walled garden if its better than whats outside? but this was a case of blunt-force trauma to force an obviously inferior product on customers. Thats not the company I fell in love with as a young man. So I could spin this as claiming that I felt my Apple products had become too controlling. But the truth is, my betrayal was born of spite.

I resisted any form of smartphone for ages (thats another story) but when I decided to give in and buy one, I was determined to shop around. I admit that I feared settling for something aesthetically inferior. Still, given my frustration with Apples Maps and its latest changes to iTunes, I hoped my new device would be more beautiful on the inside.

Im still early in my relationship with the HTC One, but to my surprise my actual experience has been almost exactly the opposite. As an object, its actually fantastic: slim but substantial, classy without being showy, and distinct from Apples design conformity in a way that doesnt come across as merely striving to be different. Not to sound overly concerned with appearances, but I kinda like the idea of being seen with this thing.

On the other hand, Im less smitten with the devices Android operating system; it feels less intuitive than iOS. Perhaps, though, that feeling is shaped by so many years of doing things Apples way. And since thats exactly the rut I was trying to escape, Im making an effort to adjust to HTC Ones habits.

Because the bottom line is that I have no regrets about cheating on Apple. While I doubt Ill break with the brand completely, I think my devotion had become a little unhealthy. Sometimes its good to play the field.*.

The new research, published earlier this year in the Journal of Pediatrics, examines a public program for children with chronic diseases called the Children with Special Health Care Needs program, which is funded through Title V of the Social Security Act of 1935, and provides federal support and serves as a safety net for children with chronic diseases.

In the study, researchers found geographic disparities in access to coverage for medical services and medications, says lead author Joyce M. Lee, M.D., M.P.H., associate professor of pediatrics at C.S. Mott Children's Hospital. Detailed state-by-state descriptions are available in this interactive map:

"States administer Title V programs individually, defining their own medical and financial criteria for eligibility," Lee says. "This has resulted in a patchwork safety net for children with chronic disease, which could have an impact on future health outcomes.

"We performed this study because we wanted to better understand the safety net that exists for kids with diabetes. This is increasingly important, because the overall burden of diabetes in children is rising in the U.S., and diabetes imposes a large financial burden on families who must manage the disease."

Lee and her co-authors found that children with diabetes were eligible for Title V programs in just 32 states, which at a minimum would provide assistance with coordination of care for these children.

However, only twenty-six states (51%) provided medical coverage to pay for visits with health care professionals and medications like insulin.Only 24 states also covered diabetes supplies (for example, glucometer strips, syringes).

"If children do not have access to a private health plan, and they do not qualify for income-based programs like Medicaid, unfortunately children in many states will not have access to the basic elements of care, simply based on geography," Lee says.

Title V programs are unique because they designate eligibility based on diagnosis of a chronic disease. Although Title V programs have financial eligibility requirements, in at least 10 states, these income limits were more generous compared with the federal limits for Medicaid or State Children's Health Insurance Program.

Title V programs may serve as the insurer of last resort or provide secondary coverage for children with private or public insurance, particularly in children who are underinsured.

"We hope this research will further highlight the need for uniformity of health benefits for children across states. Kids who live in different states should not have differential access to the care they need," Lee says.

Additional authors: Sarah J. Clark, M.P.H., Peter Wolfgram, M.D., Jaimie Sarrault, B.S.

Disclosures: None

Citation: doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2012.12.009

About the University of Michigan's C.S. Mott Children's Hospital:Since 1903, the University of Michigan has led the way in providing comprehensive, specialized health care for children. From leading-edge heart surgery that's performed in the womb to complete emergency care that's there when you need it, families from all over come to the University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital for our pediatric expertise. In 2013, C.S. Mott Children's Hospital was ranked eighth in the nation in Parents Magazine's 10 Best Children's Hospitals ranking. To learn more, go to .

SOURCE University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital

The network announced the decision Friday on Twitter. It didn't address whether the full cast would return.

The series stars Ashton Kutcher, Jon Cryer and Angus T. Jones as Cryer's son.

Jones' character is serving in the Army this season and has been somewhat less visible on "Two and a Half Men."

In January, the 19-year-old actor apologized to CBS after calling the popular sitcom "filth" and "very inappropriate."

CBS declined comment on Jones' future with the sitcom, now in its 10th season.

"Two and a Half Men" has dealt with cast changes before, when Kutcher came aboard in 2011 after Charlie Sheen's firing.

The House approved the measure on a 361-41 vote, a day after the Senate swiftly agreed to the bill. The vote came as lawmakers prepared to leave town for a weeklong spring recess, a break that would have been less pleasant if they were confronted by constituents upset over travel delays.

Republicans accused the Obama administration of purposely furloughing controllers to pressure Congress to lift $85 billion in across-the-board spending cuts known as the sequester that took effect last month at government agencies.

"The administration has played shameful politics with the sequester at the cost of hard-working American families," said Rep. Tom Latham, R-Iowa.

The White House and Democrats have argued that by law, the administration has little room to decide where the cuts fall. The White House and Democrats want Congress to work on legislation lifting all of the cuts, which lawmakers noted have also caused reductions in Head Start preschool programs, benefits for the long-term unemployed and medical research.

"How can we sit there and say, 'Four million Meals on Wheels for seniors, gone, but that's not important. Over 70,000 children off Head Start, but that's not important.' What is important is for Republicans to hold a hard line" on the budget, said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

The Federal Aviation Administration has furloughed the controllers as part of the government-wide reductions. The bill would let the FAA use up to $253 million from airport improvement and other accounts to end the furloughs for the controllers through the Sept. 30 end of the federal fiscal year.

In addition to restoring full staffing by controllers, the available funds can be used for other FAA operations, including preventing the closure of small airport towers around the country. The FAA had said it will shut the facilities to meet its share of the spending cuts.

The FAA said there had been at least 863 flights delayed on Wednesday "attributable to staffing reductions resulting from the furlough."

Administration officials participated in the negotiations that led to the deal and evidently registered no objections.

After the vote, White House press secretary Jay Carney said, "It will be good news for America's traveling public if Congress spares them these unnecessary delays. But ultimately, this is no more than a temporary Band-Aid that fails to address the overarching threat to our economy posed by the sequester's mindless, across-the-board cuts."

Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, a key participant in the talks, said the legislation would "prevent what otherwise would have been intolerable delays in the air travel system, inconveniencing travelers and hurting the economy."

Senate approval followed several hours of pressure-filled, closed-door negotiations, and came after most senators had departed the Capitol on the assumption that the talks had fallen short.

For the White House and Senate Democrats, the discussions on legislation relating to one relatively small slice of the $85 billion in spending cuts marked a shift in position in a long-running struggle with Republicans over budget issues. Similarly, the turn of events marked at least modest vindication of a decision by the House GOP last winter to finesse some budget struggles in order to focus public attention on the across-the-board cuts in hopes they would gain leverage over President Barack Obama.

The Professional Aviation Safety Specialists, a union that represents FAA employees, reported a number of incidents it said were due to the furloughs.

In one case, it said several flights headed for Long Island MacArthur Airport in New York were diverted on Wednesday when a piece of equipment failed. "While the policy for this equipment is immediate restoral, due to sequestration and furloughs it was changed to next-day restoral," the union said.

The airlines, too, were pressing Congress to restore the FAA to full staffing.

In an interview Wednesday, Robert Isom, chief operations officer of US Airways, said, "In the airline business, you try to eliminate uncertainty. Some factors you can't control, like weather. It (the FAA issue) is worse than the weather."

In a shift, first the White House and then senior Democratic lawmakers signaled a willingness in the past two days to support legislation that alleviates the budget crunch at the FAA, while leaving the balance of the $85 billion to remain in effect.

Obama favors a comprehensive agreement that replaces the entire $85 billion in across-the-board cuts as part of a broader deficit-reduction deal that includes higher taxes and spending cuts.

Officials estimate it would cost slightly more than $200 million to restore air traffic controllers to full staffing, and an additional $50 million to keep open smaller air traffic towers around the country that the FAA has proposed closing.

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Associated Press writers Joan Lowy, Henry C. Jackson and Alan Fram in Washington and David Koenig in Dallas contributed to this report.

The move is seen as part of international sanctions on the country over its disputed nuclear program. The West has imposed banking and insurance sanctions on Iran since it suspects Iran is pursuing nuclear weapons, a charge Tehran denies.

At a Tehran shopping mall, owners of mobile phones and tablets said Thursday that they had received the message via email from the company late the night before. Retailers said they had no power over the decision.

"We have heard about it, but we are only responsible for hardware here, not software and apps," shopkeeper Bijan Ashtiani said.

In the message, Samsung said that it cannot provide access to the store, known as Samsung Apps, in Iran because of "legal barriers." It apologized to customers in emailed statement seen by the Associated Press on Thursday.

Samsung's offices in Tehran could not be immediately reached for comment due to the weekend there, and its headquarters in South Korea did not immediately respond to a request.

The decision quickly provoked ire on social media.

"Samsung is to stop its apps in Iran, oh how we appreciate our officials," wrote Bahareh, a Twitter user blaming Tehran's policy. Another, named Armin, pointed at the technology giant itself, saying: "Now, Samsung's sanctions honor us as well!"

Unlike Apple, Microsoft and Adobe, Samsung has provided localized services to Iranians in their native Persian language. In 2012, Finish communications giant Nokia stopped its services in the country.

Cameroonian television showed the family of seven four children, their parents and their uncle stepping off an airplane, a man who had grown a thick beard carrying the smallest child. All appeared thin, but walked steadily.

Officials from France and Cameroon offered no details on how the family was freed overnight, and it was not clear whether there were concessions to the kidnappers.

Tanguy Moulin-Fournier, an expatriate employee for a French company and father of the family, said in a brief radio interview that the group learned their release was imminent just a few hours beforehand and that their return to safety went well.

Speaking hours later at the ambassador's residence of the French Embassy in Yaounde, Cameroon's capital, he said the group has to "digest" their freedom before responding to questions while still "in the grip of emotions."

"It was very difficult," Moulin-Fournier, now sporting a thick beard, said. "It's the end of the dry season. The heat is terrible. Water was a problem. It was difficult to hold out."

The children, who the French media reported were aged 5 to 12, fared better, he said.

"Children have something in them so that they manage to hold up," he said. "Life in them flows stronger."

The seven ex-hostages were freed "in a zone between Nigeria and Cameroon," Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said.

"It's a day of happiness, extraordinary happiness, for all French people to know that the Moulin-Fournier family is finally free, safe and sound," he said late Friday in a ceremony held in the Cameroonian capital before he was due to escort the family back to France.

"All hostage-takings are strongly felt in France, but this one was perhaps felt more because it concerned a big family with little kids."

French President Francois Hollande said authorities made contact with the kidnappers through intermediaries, and negotiations intensified in recent days. He reiterated France's official policy against ransom payments.

"We use all our contacts, but remain firm on our principles," Hollande said. "We are not changing the principle that France does not pay ransoms."

France has come under criticism over what diplomats and analysts say is an unofficial policy of indirectly paying ransoms through middlemen over the years. Vicki Huddleston, a former U.S. ambassador to Mali, alleged that France paid a $17 million ransom to free hostages seized from a French mining site cash she said ultimately funded the al-Qaida-linked militants in Mali. French officials deny paying any ransoms.

Fabius, like Hollande, stressed the need for discretion in working to free hostages. The minister thanked Cameroonian President Paul Biya and the Nigerian head of state.

"The Cameroonian people and I are filled with great relief and great joy to see you free," Biya told the three freed adults who attended a ceremony in the capital late Friday.

The Feb. 19 kidnapping in northern Cameroon near the Nigerian border came as thousands of French troops were deeply involved in a military intervention against Islamic extremists in the west African country of Mali. The French statement recalled that eight other French citizens are still being held hostage in the Sahel region of Africa.

Moulin-Fournier is an employee of the French gas group GDF Suez and worked in Yaounde.

"We were not involved in any negotiations but we knew that French authorities were very active," Gerard Mastrallet, the head of GDF, said in an interview with RTL radio.

Last month, a video surfaced showing a man who appeared to be Moulin-Fournier. The man said his family was in the custody of the Islamic radical sect known as Boko Haram which wants all its members freed, especially women and children held in Nigerian and Cameroonian custody.

Boko Haram has been waging a campaign of bombings and shootings across Nigeria's north. They are held responsible for more than 790 deaths last year, and dozens more since the beginning of this year.

Moulin-Fournier had said his family was not doing well in captivity.

"We lose force (strength) every day and start to be sick; we will not stay very long like this," he said in the recording.

Neither Nigeria nor Cameroon reported any Boko Haram members were freed.

Brig. Gen. Chris Olukolade, a Nigerian defense ministry spokesman, told The Associated Press on Friday that the release followed a "meticulous collaboration between the Nigerian security forces and French counterparts, as well as others." However, he declined to offer any other information.

"I can only inform you that we collaborated," he said.

Nigerian presidential spokesman Reuben Abati and a spokeswoman for Nigeria's domestic spy agency also declined to comment. However, it appeared Nigerian authorities were caught off-guard by the announcement.

___

Lori Hinnant reported from Paris. Associated Press writers Sylvie Corbet in Paris and Jon Gambrell in Lagos, Nigeria, contributed to this report.

Here are 10 things to watch for during the three-day NFL draft beginning Thursday night:

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COMMISSIONER HUGGY BEAR

How many hugs can Roger Goodell endure from all the burly offensive and defensive players expected to be selected in the first round? Last year, he embraced many first-round picks who took the stage and was nearly hugged into submission by the likes of Fletcher Cox, Dontari Poe and Melvin Ingram.

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SHOW ME A QUARTERBACK

Will any quarterbacks be taken in the first round? Possibilities include Geno Smith, Matt Barkley and EJ Manuel, but this is far from the glamour year of 2012, when QBs were huge: Luck, No. 1; Robert Griffin III, No. 2; Ryan Tannehill (No. 8); Brandon Weeden (No. 22). The last time no quarterback was taken in round one was 1996 (Tony Banks was a second-rounder, No. 42, by the Rams); the last time only one was taken was 2001 (Michael Vick, first overall) and the last time two were taken was 2010 (Sam Bradford and Tim Tebow).

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FASHION STATEMENT

Fashionistas surely will be tracking the expensive, colorful designer suits, hairstyles (think dreadlocks) and even socks of the draftees as they take the stage after being selected. (Think Griffin, the Redskins' top pick in 2012, who wore a baby blue jacket, checkered-patterned shirt, purplish tie with horizontal stripes, and burgundy and gold socks with the words "GO CATCH YOUR DREAM."

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TE'O TIME

When that will be exactly is anyone's guess. Some analysts have Notre Dame's All-American linebacker Manti Te'o back to being a first-round cinch, even after a great season was marred by a poor game against Alabama followed by the hoax involving a deceased "girlfriend." He did not perform well at the NFL combine, but did better at pro day in South Bend.

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BEEFING UP EARLY

Watch for all the beef early in the first round. There's a chance seven of the first 10 picks could be really big fellas. Among them are offensive linemen Luke Joeckel (306 pounds), Eric Fisher (306), Chance Warmack (317), Lane Johnson (303) and Jonathan Cooper (311); and defensive linemen Sharrif Floyd (297) and Ziggy Ansah (271).

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WILL TIDE ROLL AGAIN IN 1ST ROUND?

A year ago, the national champions had four players picked: RB Trent Richardson (No. 3), SS Mark Barron (No. 7), CB Dre Kirkpatrick (No.17) and LB Dont'a Hightower (No. 25). National champs again, there are five that could end up as first-rounders: Warmack, cornerback Dee Milliner, offensive tackle D.J. Fluker, defensive tackle Jesse Williams, and running back Eddie Lacy.

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FAMILY TIES

Every year, a slew of players with family ties to the NFL are draft eligible. This year is no exception, with a few dozen all-in-the-family connections. Among them are QBs Nate Montana (son of Joe Montana) and Jordan Rodgers (brother of Aaron Rodgers), Jake Ryan (son of Pat Ryan), Duron Carter (son of Cris Carter), Luke Tasker (son of Steve Tasker), Kyle Long (son of Howie Long, brother of Chris Long) and Baker Steinkuhler (son of Dean Steinkuhler).

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HALL OF FAME PICKERS

A total of 32 former NFL players will be announcing second- and third-round picks for teams, including newly elected Hall of Famers Jonathan Ogden (Ravens), Warren Sapp (Buccaneers) and Dave Robinson (Packers). Others making picks for their former teams include Deion Sanders (Falcons) and Larry Little (Dolphins).

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BEST STORYLINES

Houston cornerback D.J. Hayden and South Carolina running back Marcus Lattimore.

Hayden was moments from death last November after an on-field collision with a teammate tore a blood vessel off the back of his heart. He was taken to a hospital, underwent lifesaving surgery, and now could be a first-round pick. He ran a 4.33 40-yard dash at Houston's pro day in March, and now he'll wait to see if a team believes his talent and speed is worth the risk.

In 2011, Lattimore tore the ACL in his left knee midway through the season. He returned last year, and in October, the star running back suffered a horrific injury to his right knee against Tennessee it was dislocated and ligaments were damaged as he was tackled. He had surgery a month later, continued rehabbing, and at South Carolina's pro day recently he impressed NFL scouts so much they applauded after his workout. He says he's confident he'll be ready to play when the 2013 season starts.

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MR. IRRELEVANT

As the draft draws to a close Saturday, the fun revs up with the final pick, aka Mr. Irrelevant. As they did last year, the Colts have the honor at pick No. 254. Last year, they went for Northern Illinois quarterback Chandler Harnish (Andrew Luck was the Colts' other QB pick at No. 1 overall). The last pick will be awarded the Lowsman (opposite of Heisman) Trophy during a weeklong celebration at the Balboa Bay Club in Newport Beach, Calif. In 2012, Harnish's first trip to California included golf at Big Canyon Country Club, a visit to Disneyland and parties galore. The founder of Irrelevant Week is Paul Salata, a former USC and NFL receiver. The first Mr. Irrelevant was WR Kelvin Kirk in 1976.