In a phone call with European Commission President Jos Manuel Barroso late on Monday, Chinese Premier Li Keqiang said that China is closely following the dispute, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Tuesday.

China resolutely opposes trade protectionism and the abuse of trade relief measures and will uphold China's interests, the report quoted Li as saying. Li expressed hope that the dispute could be resolved through bilateral talks.

The European Commission, the EU's executive, accuses China of flooding Europe with cheap solar panels sold at below the cost of production, and intends to impose duties.

That has prompted energetic lobbying from Beijing against the move and divisions have emerged in Europe on the issue, foreshadowing a bruising internal battle over how to respond to China's trade practices.

A majority of European countries, led by Germany and Britain, oppose EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht's plans to levy tariffs of 47 percent on solar panel imports from China next month, according to a survey by Reuters.

Li previously criticized EU trade measures on solar and telecom equipment last month, saying that punitive duties would "harm others without benefiting oneself.

(Reporting by Gabriel Wildau; Editing by Shri Navaratnam)

Owned by conglomerate Associated British Foods, Primark has bucked the retail gloom thanks to its focus on low prices at a time when many retailers find the going tough as consumers fret over job security and a squeeze on incomes.

The chain has 257 brick-and-mortar stores across eight countries including Britain, Ireland and Spain, but currently no online retailing presence.

"Primark is undertaking a very limited trial of online sales with ASOS. This trial relates to a small number of fashion items and will give the company some insight into online retailing," a Primark spokesman said via email.

Tarlok Teji, a retail analyst at Manchester Business School, said it made sense for Primark to tie up with ASOS for its first foray into online retailing.

"The details of the deal are unclear but I expect it will increase throughput for ASOS and give Primark customers a 'digital shopping channel'," Teji said in emailed comments. "We should expect both parties to do well from this venture."

(Reporting by James Davey in London and Abhishek Takle in Bangalore; Editing by Dale Hudson)

The Democratic National Committee released a statement from President Barack Obama praising Chafee as an independent thinker and leader whos unafraid to reach across party lines to get things done.

Obama added, Im thrilled to welcome Linc to the party of Jefferson and Jackson, Roosevelt and Kennedy, and I look forward to working with him in the years ahead."

Chafee, who served in the Senate as a Republican from 1999 to 2006, switched his party affiliation to independent in 2007 and was elected to the Rhode Island governors office in 2010. He won a three-way race that year with just 36 percent of the vote.

Chafee has openly considered making the switch to the Democratic Party since 2011. He had a distinctly liberal voting record as a Republican in the Senate and was the only member of the GOP to vote against the Iraq War. He also campaigned for Obama in 2008 and 2012.

Gov. Chafees been a longtime supporter of President Obama, and not as a party member but as a supporter of the president and his policies both," White House press secretary Jay Carney told reporters at Wednesdays press briefing, prior to the DNC announcement.

The tepid Rhode Island economy has taken a toll on Chafee's popularity. A Public Policy Polling survey taken in January found only 33 percent of voters in the state approving of the job hes doing, while 59 percent disapproved. A February poll from Brown University put his job approval rating at 26 percent.

The poll suggested Chafee would face a struggle against likely Democratic gubernatorial candidates including Providence Mayor Angel Taveras and state Treasurer Gina Raimondo. Both are reportedly preparing for a run.

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This article was

The video of the IRS workers practicing their dance moves, which lasts just under three minutes, comes weeks after it was revealed that agency workers produced two other videos parodying the "Star Trek" and "Gilligan's Island" TV shows.

The latest recording cost about $1,600 and was produced to be shown at the end of a 2010 training and leadership conference held in Anaheim, Calif., said IRS spokeswoman Michelle Eldridge. At a time when most government agencies are coping with across-the-board spending cuts by furloughing workers and finding other savings, that conference has become the target of a report a Treasury inspector general plans to release next week.

The report, called "Collected and Wasted: The IRS Spending Culture and Conference Abuses," will be the subject of a hearing Thursday by the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, that panel said Friday.

The IRS is also under fire by lawmakers and the Obama administration for targeting conservative groups applying for tax-exempt status for tough scrutiny between 2010 and 2012. That screening, revealed May 10, has led President Barack Obama to replace the agency's acting chief, and two other top officials have also stepped aside.

All three videos were provided in response to a request by a senior member of the House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Charles Boustany, R-La.

"The outrage toward the IRS is only growing stronger," said Boustany, who chairs the Ways and Means oversight subcommittee. "Clearly this is an agency where abuse and waste is the norm and not the exception."

In a written statement, the IRS said the video was "unacceptable and an inappropriate use of government funds." It said the agency has new policies in place "to ensure that taxpayer funds are being used appropriately."

Eldridge said the dance video was recorded at IRS offices in New Carrollton, Md., outside Washington, D.C.

In the video, various workers comment as colleagues practice their dancing in the background to music that sounds like "Cupid Shuffle," a 2007 hit by the performer Cupid. In the version obtained by The Associated Press, IRS employees' names have been erased.

At one point, one woman says, "And I thought doing the 'Star Trek' video was humiliating."

That Star Trek video was produced for the same 2010 conference. The agency called the Star Trek video, which lasted six minutes and featured employees dressed as characters from the popular show, a mistake.

The Star Trek and Gilligan's Island videos cost about $60,000 combined to make, the IRS said in March.

The Gilligan's Island parody was used at the beginning of a 12-hour video the IRS used in 2011 to train its workers on various tax issues, Eldridge said. The entire video was used to train 1,900 workers who assist taxpayers over the phone and in offices around the country, she said.

In a separate statement, Danny Werfel, the IRS' new acting commissioner, called the 2010 conference "an unfortunate vestige from a prior era."

He added, "While there were legitimate reasons for holding the meeting, many of the expenses associated with it were inappropriate and should not have occurred."

Werfel said the IRS has since instituted spending restrictions that include scaling back travel and training expenses by more than 80 percent since 2010.

"Taxpayers should take comfort that a conference like this would not take place today," Werfel said.

The 2010 conference was attended by 2,600 IRS workers from 350 offices around the country that handle tax returns for small businesses and self-employed individuals, Eldridge said.

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Online:

Dance video http://waysandmeans.house.gov/uploadedfiles/irs_dance_video.m4v

Winning Politics on the Jersey Shore

If New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie gave President Obama a boost toward reelection in the wake of superstorm Sandy last fall, then Obama repaid the favor with today's visit to the Jersey Shore.

It will be a boon to Christie's reelection efforts, and there was an upside for Obama, too. The president got to defend his philosophy, besieged of late by scandals, that government can help people. "When we make a commitment that we've got your back, we mean it and we're not going to finish until the work is done," he said.

SAN FRANCISCO/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Billionaire environmentalist Elon Musk has quit a Silicon Valley advocacy group formed by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg after the group funded ads for senators touting their support for an oil pipeline and oil drilling in Alaska.

Musk leads one of the world's best known "green" companies, electric carmaker Tesla. A Tesla spokeswoman told Reuters on Friday that the South African-born entrepreneur preferred not to elaborate on his reasons for leaving FWD.us.

Zuckerberg announced the formation of FWD.us last month, saying it was focused on bipartisan policies to bring about comprehensive immigration reform and improvements in the U.S. education system.

Fwd.us bankrolled three television ads on behalf of senators who have been playing a key role in the immigration debate.

The ads were focused not on immigration but rather on the senator's general positions, including one's support for the Keystone XL pipeline, which has created a backlash among some progressive groups. Backers say the pipeline project would boost North American energy security and provide thousands of construction jobs. Opponents argue that it would lead to higher releases of greenhouse gases.

The spots quickly drew the ire of liberal and environmental groups, including the Sierra Club and MoveOn.org, who earlier this week pledged to pull ads from Facebook for two weeks.

The Fwd.us website removed Musk's name on Friday after a Reuters inquiry. It was unclear how much Musk, who also chairs solar-energy company Solar City, had donated.

David Sacks, founder of business networking site Yammer and a former colleague of Musk's at payment service PayPal, also dropped off the list of the FWD.us backers on Friday. FWD.us spokeswoman Kate Hansen earlier confirmed that a second funder had withdrawn support but declined to elaborate. Sacks did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

"We recognize that not everyone will always agree with or be pleased by our strategy - and we're grateful for the continued support of our dedicated founders and major contributors," FWD.us spokeswoman Hansen said in a statement.

"FWD.us remains totally committed to supporting a bipartisan policy agenda that will boost the knowledge economy, including comprehensive immigration reform."

A Facebook spokeswoman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

A DIFFERENT APPROACH

FWD.us boasts an impressive list of backers, including Microsoft founder Bill Gates and LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, though it operates as a special type of non-profit group that does not have to disclose its donors. Run by Zuckerberg's old Harvard roommate, Joe Green, FWD.us's political operation is managed by a group of Washington insiders with leadership roles in both Republican and Democratic organizations.

It joins other technology groups and alliances lobbying Congress for more H-1B visas for high-skilled workers and easier hiring of foreign math, science and engineering experts.

Rather than directly representing the companies its backers are involved with, FWD.us is funded by individuals who have personally attached themselves - and their cash - to the cause. Zuckerberg has become the group's public face, among more than three dozen big-name supporters.

Politically, Zuckerberg has carved out bipartisan credentials, visiting the White House and hosting a town hall for President Barack Obama but also staging a fundraiser for Chris Christie, the Republican governor of New Jersey who some see as a 2016 Presidential hopeful.

The latest controversy was sparked by ads for Republican Senators Marco Rubio from Florida and Lindsey Graham from South Carolina as well as Alaskan Democrat Mark Begich. FWD.us helped fund two separate entities to run the ads.

Rather than focusing on raising public awareness over immigration reform and its benefits for the technology sector, the FWD.us ads promote lawmakers who the groups thinks will be key players on the issue.

In doing so, the ads highlight a number of positions held by the senators, including supporting the controversial Keystone XL pipeline in Graham's case, and drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Preserve in Begich's.

The ads could help inoculate the lawmakers against challenges from within their parties as a result of their stand on immigration reform. Graham and Begich are up for re-election in 2014.

Fwd.us co-founder Jim Breyer, a venture capitalist at Accel Partners, defended the group's efforts.

"Our advertising decisions are being made by a very smart team of political operatives who know that passing major reform will require some different and innovative tactics," Breyer said in an emailed statement.

For the most part, donors have stayed out of the nitty gritty of how FWD.us operates.

"It's a really gnarly, gnarly thing having to deal with Washington," venture investor and Fwd.us co-founder Chamath Palihapitiya said at a conference last month. "I'm glad that other people other than me are dealing with it who have the patience and the resolve to figure it out."

(Reporting By Sarah McBride and Alina Selyukh; Editing by Ros Krasny, Mary Milliken and Claudia Parsons)

The record-breaking four-day weekend generated estimated receipts of $316 million.

"Over $300 million for Memorial Day weekend has never happened before," said box-office analyst Paul Dergarabedian of Hollywood.com. "This proves that when you have a great selection of films, audiences will line up at movie theaters in record numbers."

The sixth installment of the "Fast & Furious" franchise debuted at No. 1 with $120 million, making it the biggest opening weekend for a Universal Pictures release, according to Hollywood.com.

Starring Vin Diesel and Paul Walker, the muscle-car action romp took in an additional $158 million internationally.

Fans turned out because filmmakers upped the ante, said Nikki Rocco, Universal's head of distribution.

"The creative team, the filmmakers and the studio put their heart and soul into making it bigger and better," she said. "When you have this many films in the franchise ... you have to take it in a new direction."

The street racers battle both a tank and a plane in the film.

"It is the very definition of the summer popcorn movie," Dergarabedian said. "You suspend disbelief, buckle up and go along for that ride."

"The Hangover Part III," starring Zach Galifianakis, Bradley Cooper and Ed Helms, opened in second place. The final chapter in the Warner Bros. raunchy comedy trilogy collected $51.2 million.

Paramount Pictures' "Star Trek: Into Darkness," which opened last week, added $47 million to its domestic ticket sales, landing at No. 3.

Fox' animated "Epic," the only non-sequel among the weekend's five top-grossing films, opened in the fourth spot with $42.6 million.

"We did see a hole in the release schedule that said this is the perfect time to launch an animated film," said Fox president of domestic distribution Chris Aronson. "It can be challenging to launch an original-content movie in such a competitive weekend, but this is a very special movie: A family movie as well as an all-audience movie."

Now in its fourth week of release, "Iron Man 3" which had the biggest opening so far this year hung onto fifth place with $24.4 million.

The record-breaking weekend take bodes well for the summer movie season, Dergarabedian said: "This Memorial weekend is exactly what the industry needed and this momentum will carry forward."

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Monday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Hollywood.com. Where available, latest international numbers are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Tuesday.

1. "Fast & Furious 6," $120 million ($158 million international).

2. "The Hangover Part III," $51.2 million ($19.2 million international).

3. "Star Trek: Into Darkness," $47 million ($13.1 million international).

4. "Epic," $42.6 million ($23.1 million international).

5. "Iron Man 3," $24.4 million ($17.4 million international).

6. "The Great Gatsby," $17 million ($24.4 million international).

7. "Mud," $2.5 million ($400,000 international).

8. "The Croods," $1.6 million ($5.8 million international).

9. "42," $1.6 million.

10. "Oblivion," $1.1 million ($2.3 million international).

Estimated weekend ticket sales at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada) through Sunday for films distributed overseas by Hollywood studios, according to Rentrak:

1. "Fast & Furious 6," $158 million.

2. "The Great Gatsby," $24.4 million.

3. "Epic," $23.1 million.

4. "The Hangover Part III," $19.2 million.

5. "Iron Man 3," $17.4 million.

6. "Star Trek: Into Darkness," $13.1 million.

7. "The Croods," $5.8 million.

8. "Oblivion," $2.3 million.

9. "Evil Dead," $2.2 million.

10. "Only God Forgives," $1.5 million.

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Follow AP Entertainment Writer Sandy Cohen on Twitter at www.twitter.com/APSandy .

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Online:

http://www.hollywood.com

http://www.rentrak.com

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Universal and Focus are owned by NBC Universal, a unit of Comcast Corp.; Sony, Columbia, Sony Screen Gems and Sony Pictures Classics are units of Sony Corp.; Paramount is owned by Viacom Inc.; Disney, Pixar and Marvel are owned by The Walt Disney Co.; Miramax is owned by Filmyard Holdings LLC; 20th Century Fox and Fox Searchlight are owned by News Corp.; Warner Bros. and New Line are units of Time Warner Inc.; MGM is owned by a group of former creditors including Highland Capital, Anchorage Advisors and Carl Icahn; Lionsgate is owned by Lions Gate Entertainment Corp.; IFC is owned by AMC Networks Inc.; Rogue is owned by Relativity Media LLC.

Weekley was one shot behind compatriot and overnight leader Matt Kuchar when play began at Colonial Country Club but used a string of birdies to top a crowded leaderboard that featured 22 players within five shots of the lead after the third round.

The 39-year-old Weekley offset two early birdies with bogeys at the par-four fifth and par-four seventh holes but recovered with birdies at four of his next six holes en route to a 14-under total of 266 that left him one shot ahead of Kuchar.

Kuchar (68) birdied the par-four 18th to finish alone in second place, one stroke ahead of fellow American and former Masters champion Zach Johnson (66).

Americans Scott Stallings (66), John Rollins (68) and Matt Every (69) were all a further shot back in a share of fourth place.

Weekley's last triumph had come at the former Verizon Heritage, now known as the RBC Heritage, in 2008 during a period where he rose to popularity before injuries and poor form zapped his game.

Known for his Southern sensibilities and sense of humor, Weekley is a charming figure that helped the Unites States capture the Ryder Cup in 2008.

(Writing by Jahmal Corner in Los Angeles; Editing by Frank Pingue)