Dakar Fashion Week, an 11-year-old institution birthed in the posh hotels of this West African culture hub, took its act to Guediawaye, one of the most downtrodden neighborhoods of this sea facing capital. While organizer Adama Ndiaye affectionately described the area as "the 'hood," the northern suburb has repeatedly been the scene of violent riots over problems ranging from power cuts to seasonal flooding in this nation that consistently ranks in the bottom tier on global development reports.

The show was part of a six-day event featuring 18 designers, seven from Senegal and others from as far away as Germany and Brazil. Shows were scheduled to be held in three different locations throughout Dakar.

Ndiaye said she hoped staging a show in a working-class suburb would make high fashion as accessible to students like Kande as it is for the wealthy.

"It is very important to show that beautiful things are not only for rich people," said Ndiaye, who shows under the name Adama Paris. She said that the clothes she displayed in Guediawaye were of the same quality and cost as those that were to be featured later in the weekend at a luxury seaside hotel.

"I want this neighborhood to see what we have, and if it's a gown for 1,000 euros, then who cares? You don't have to be rich to like Dior," she said while prepping the staging area behind the runway, which was assembled on a sandy clearing normally used as a marketplace.

But a show in the suburbs is not exactly like a show downtown. Senegalese designer Ramsen, who specializes in dark, loose dresses adorned with foot-long feathers and other unusual accents, said she left some of her pricier pieces at home both to accommodate the crowd and to protect her more delicate creations.

"This is the suburbs, so people don't have the same financial means," she said. "Also, as you can see, there is a lot of sand out here."

The runway scene was also far rowdier than shows in the capital, Dakar. Thousands of Senegalese, who don't necessarily work in fashion, were vocal about their opinions. They cheered lustily at a leggy model wearing hot pink shorts by German designer Kathrin Huschka, and dozens of men jostled for better views from parked minivans on a road overlooking the runway.

The loudest reactions were reserved for the more famous models, especially actress Diarra Thiam, who was greeted to rapturous chants of her nickname, "Lissa." The presenter later brought her out to blow kisses to the crowd, which nearly toppled the control barrier on one side of the T-shaped runway.

For designer Tapha Fall, the show was a kind of homecoming. As a boy growing up in Guediawaye, he developed a love for clothes while helping out his father, a tailor. He said the decision to stage a show in the suburb would expose residents to global trends they might not otherwise encounter.

"The people here already have their own style urban, a mix of American and French," he said. "But now they will see what's going on in the rest of the world."

But Yannick Minko, an assistant to Lebanese designer Enzo Itzaky, said designers could look to Guediawaye for inspiration.

"Style begins in the street," he said. "You look at designers in America, they are getting their inspiration from the Bronx, from Brooklyn. So why can't it be the same here in Senegal?"

After the show, law student Kande suggested that inspiration might come full circle. Though many of the items were outside her budget, she said she had snapped a few photos of dresses she might want to wear. And as is common in Dakar, she said she planned to take advantage of cheap labor to add some approximations of the outfits to her wardrobe.

"I'll see if maybe my tailor can make them," she said.

(Reuters) - PBS talk show host Charlie Rose and his production company will pay roughly $110,000 to settle a lawsuit brought by former unpaid interns, under an agreement approved by a New York state judge.

The victory, another win on the wages front for interns, comes amid a wave of lawsuits that followed a June 11 ruling by a federal judge in Manhattan that former production interns for the 2010 film "Black Swan" were de facto employees of Fox Searchlight Pictures.

In the so-called glamour industries of film, publishing and other media, unpaid internships are standard. The cost-saving practice has spread to other businesses, prompting experts to predict that litigation in more traditional fields could be next.

In the Charlie Rose case, former intern Lucy Bickerton filed a class-action lawsuit in March 2012 alleging that she and other interns of the Charlie Rose Show worked without pay for an average of six hours a day for several of days a week over the course of a semester.

The settlement, approved on Friday, grants each eligible intern who submits a claim form $110 for each week worked up to a maximum of 10 weeks, the average length of an academic semester internship.

Vedder Price attorney Lyle Zuckerman, who represented Charlie Rose, estimated his client would end up paying about $60,000 to former interns and another $50,000 to their attorneys.

In another settlement, fashion designer Norma Kamali agreed this week to settlement terms with a former intern.

Similar lawsuits have been filed in recent weeks by former interns against Atlantic Records, W Magazine, the website Gawker, Fox Soccer Channel and a production company that produces programming for Nickelodeon, among other employers.

"It's very important for the general unpaid internship lawsuit movement," attorney Maurice Pianko said of the Kamali settlement.

Pianko said he could not discuss the terms of the preliminary settlement between Kamali and his client, Erica van Rabenswaay, but he credited the designer for resolving it fairly and quickly.

Pianko founded the group Intern Justice as a vehicle to represent unpaid interns challenging wage violations. He is also handling a lawsuit brought by a former intern against Atlantic Records and Warner Music Group.

In that case, Justin Henry has sued Warner in a New York state court on behalf of company interns from June 2007 to the present. The lawsuit alleges that for more than six months, Henry worked at least seven hours a day, five days a week answering phones, faxing paperwork, filing and picking up lunch for Warner Music employees.

The tasks he was performing meant he was an employee under state law that should be paid minimum wage and overtime, the complaint states.

The Gawker lawsuit was brought by former interns against the website and its founder, Nick Denton, in federal court. They said they "were not paid a single cent" to work at least 15 hours a week performing tasks such as writing posts, editing contributors and moderating online comment sections. The complaint also said that Gawker did not provide the interns with academic or vocational training.

To determine whether interns are interns or employees, both state and federal courts try to decipher whether the primary beneficiary of the internship was the intern or the employer.

The Black Swan case judge cited a 2010 fact sheet published by the U.S. Department of Labor on a six-prong test to determine whether an intern at a for-profit company must be paid. The test was based on a 1947 U.S. Supreme Court case related to railroad workers that established an exception for trainees.

"Menial as it was, their work was essential. The fact they were beginners is irrelevant," U.S. District Judge William Pauley in New York wrote in determining the Fox Searchlight interns should be paid.

Charlie Rose attorney Zuckerman said that other judges, including those in the U.S. 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals, may not apply the test in the same manner as Pauley.

Zuckerman said he and his client "firmly believe" that they met the test for proving it was an educational program that mainly benefited the interns, but, given the size of the settlement, protracted litigation didn't make sense.

"You've got to have a big enough company to fight the fight," Zuckerman said.

A preliminary settlement of the Charlie Rose lawsuit was announced in December 2012.

(Editing by Kevin Drawbaugh and Steve Orlofsky)

LOS ANGELES (TheWrap.com) - Australian actor Brenton Thwaites ("Maleficent") has beat out several of his fellow rising stars for the young male lead opposite Jeff Bridges in the Weinstein Company and Walden Media's adaptation of "The Giver," TheWrap has learned.

Based on the bestselling book by Lois Lowry, "The Giver" is a largely introspective fantasy tale set in a colorless dystopian society that enforces Sameness and fears freedom. All memory of human history has been erased, emotion does not exist and citizens' professions are chosen for them.

Thwaites has been chosen to play Jonas, the community's Receiver of Memories who spends his days being mentored by the Giver (Bridges), who teaches him to confront and understand the lies that inform society. As Jonas comes to grips with living an unsheltered existence, he begins to acquire a taste for freedom and honesty, becoming an outcast in the process.

Thwaites' competition for the coveted role included Nick Robinson ("The Kings of Summer"), Tye Sheridan ("Mud") and Dylan Minnette ("Prisoners").

Philip Noyce is directing the adaptation of Lowry's celebrated 1993 children's book. The movie has been a passion project for Bridges, who is producing with Nikki Silver of Tonik Productions, as well as TWC's Harvey Weinstein, Dylan Sellers and Julie Rappaport. Production could begin as early as this fall in South Africa.

Long attached to play the title role, Bridges bought the rights to "The Giver" two decades ago after being introduced to the book by his daughter.

Thwaites starred on the Aussie TV series "Home and Away" before he was tapped to play the Prince alongside Angelina Jolie and Elle Fanning in Disney's "Maleficent." He recently wrapped the indies "Oculus," "Son of a Gun" and "The Signal."

Thwaites is represented by WME and Industry Entertainment.

Deadline broke the news.

According to the , Napolitano will become the president of the University of Californiathe first woman to hold that post in its 145-year history. Napolitano has been at the Homeland Security Department since President Obama took office in 2009. She was  as a favorite candidate to succeed Eric Holder as attorney general. That, in all likelihood, will not be happening now.

A source close to The Times said, "She loves working for President Obama and serving the American people, but at the same time, this is a unique opportunity." Napolitano is a graduate of Santa Clara University, where she was a valedictorian.

While it's not DHS, which has a budget of $60 billion, the UC system is quite large. It has an annual budget of $24 billion, and counts 191,000 faculty and staff. Homeland Security currently has 240,000 employees. As a Cabinet secretary, Napolitano earns $200,000 annually. The current UC president earns $591,000although it's not clear what Napolitano's salary as president will be.

Napolitano's departure leaves very few cabinet officials left from the beginning of Obama's presidency. As ABC's Jeff Zeleny , the original cabinet is down to Kathleen Sebelius at Health and Human Services, Tom Vilsack at the Department of Agriculture, Eric Holder at the Department of Justice, Sean Donovan at the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Arne Duncan at the Department of Education, and Eric Shinseki at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Secretary Napolitano has not been a favorite of conservative Republicans. On Friday, Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) issued a statement saying that the secretary's tenure "was defined by a consistent disrespect for the rule of law." Rep. Michael McCaul, chairman of the U.S. House Homeland Security Committee, said in athat "While Secretary Napolitano and I have disagreed on issues like the secuirty of the border, I respect and thank her for her service." The Chairman also noted theat the Homeland Security Department, and said the Obama administration "should move swiftly" to close the gaps.

Sen. John McCain, from Napolitano's home state, said in a statement that "we have had our share of disagreements during her time as Secretary, but I have never doubted her integrity, work ethic or commitment to our nation's security."

In the run-up to the 2012 election, National Journal  New York City Police Commissioner Ray Kelly, Bill Bratton, and retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen as possible successors for Napolitano at Homeland Security if she were to step down. In the political world, former Senator Joe Lieberman is also a rumoredto take the job, in part because he could help make a possibly contentious Senate confirmation process a bit easier. NBC's Chuck Todd alsoformer Rep. Jane Harman as a possible replacement.

Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley could also be something of a dark-horse candidate. O'Malley wasby President Obama as a chairman of a national homeland security panel in February. The governor also has .

Here's the full statement from Napolitano on her resignation:

For more than four years I have had the privilege of serving President Obama and his Administration as the Secretary of Homeland Security. The opportunity to work with the dedicated men and women of the Department of Homeland Security, who serve on the frontlines of our nation's efforts to protect our communities and families from harm, has been the highlight of my professional career. We have worked together to minimize threats of all kinds to the American public. The Department has improved the safety of travelers; implemented smart steps that make our immigration system more fair and focused while deploying record resources to protect our nation's borders; worked with states to build resiliency and make our nation's emergency and disaster response capabilities more robust; and partnered with the private sector to improve our cybersecurity. After four plus years of focusing on these challenges, I will be nominated as the next President of the University of California to play a role in educating our nation's next generation of leaders. I thank President Obama for the chance to serve our nation during this important chapter in our history, and I know the Department of Homeland Security will continue to perform its important duties with the honor and focus that the American public expects.

And from President Obama:

I want to thank Secretary Napolitano for her outstanding work on behalf of the American people over the last four years. At the Department of Homeland Security, Janet's portfolio has included some of the toughest challenges facing our country. She's worked around the clock to respond to natural disasters, from the Joplin tornado to Hurricane Sandy, helping Americans recover and rebuild. Since day one, Janet has led my administration's effort to secure our borders, deploying a historic number of resources, while also taking steps to make our immigration system fairer and more consistent with our values. And the American people are safer and more secure thanks to Janet's leadership in protecting our homeland against terrorist attacks. I've come to rely on Janet's judgment and advice, but I've also come to value her friendship. And as she begins a new chapter in a remarkable career of public service, I wish her the best of luck.

Correction: A previous version of this story misspelled the name of the New York City police commisioner. His name is Ray Kelly.

Yellow jersey holder Chris Froome lost a chunk of his race lead but not enough to gravely endanger the Briton heading toward what is shaping up to be an intriguing finale in the Alps. The team of Alberto Contador dealt the former two-time champion back into the game, putting him close enough to Froome to make the last week interesting. A rear-wheel failure at the worst time dropped Alejandro Valverde from second place to nowhere. And Mark Cavendish got a 25th stage win to lift the British sprinter to a third-place tie on the all-time list of cycling's premier race.

All this on a Stage 13 that, on paper, looked beforehand as though it might be a dud. But the riders are ensuring there's no such thing as a dull day at the 100th Tour. Much of the media buildup to this first Tour since the fall of Lance Armstrong focused on cycling's fight against doping. But from Stage 1 in Corsica two weeks ago, the sporting drama and the Tour's stunning visuals have come to the fore.

Much of Friday's mischief was cooked up by two teams - Belkin and Omega Pharma-QuickStep - that simply happened to share the same hotel the night before. With two-thirds of the stage left to race, a time when the pack often prefers to take things easy and let breakaway riders speed ahead for a while, Omega powered as a group to the front and rode like furies. They soon got additional support from Belkin. Their sudden acceleration and sustained high speed caught dozens of other riders off guard. The pack split into three groups. The breeze blowing across the long, undulating straights made it impossible for stragglers to catch up. Among them was Marcel Kittel, winner of three stages at this Tour.

Omega rider Jerome Pineau hinted it was no coincidence that his team and Belkin worked together.

''Look at the list of hotels and look who we were with yesterday,'' he said.

His teammate, Sylvain Chavanel, added: ''You need some friends in the peloton.''

Belkin rider Sep Vanmarcke said his Dutch team long ago identified this stage as a chance to spring a trap.

''We had planned this. The team leaders knew exactly where we would go,'' he said. ''We knew there would be a lot of side wind there and that would be the best place to go.''

When Valverde's rear wheel broke with more than 80 kilometers (50 miles) to ride, the Spaniard could only look on helpless as the pack sped on without him. With a new rear wheel, he and his Movistar teammates tried but failed to catch back up. He lost nearly nine minutes to Froome. Now out of podium contention entirely, in 16th place, Valverde suggested he might seek to exact revenge on teams - he named Belkin and Europcar - that didn't slow up for him, saying: ''Maybe we can make the race tougher for those who didn't help me today and made it so I couldn't catch up.''

Froome signaled his disapproval of the way Valverde was eliminated.

''I just hope that no team would do that to me if I had a mechanical problem,'' said the Team Sky leader.

On this very tactical 173-kilometer (107-mile) stage from Tours in the Loire valley, Contador's Saxo-Tinkoff team then pulled the same trick as Belkin and Omega. They hit the gas about 30 kilometers (20 miles) from the crowded finish in the town of Saint-Amand-Montrond, again splintering the pack. This time, Froome was among those left behind.

Contador said his Italian teammate, Daniele Bennati, ''rode a kilometer as if he were on a motorcycle. It was incredible, and that's what made the group break into a thousand pieces.''

''All you could do was fasten your seat belt,'' said another of Contador's teammates, Nicolas Roche.

Never letting up, they got Contador to the finish 1 minute, 9 seconds ahead of Froome. Contador, the Tour champion in 2007 and '09 who was stripped of his title the following year for doping, was having a poor race. He was badly beaten by Froome in the Pyrenees and the first time trial. His team's efforts for him on Friday reinvigorated his challenge for the third week where Contador has proved strong in previous races. From fourth place, with a 3:54 deficit to Froome, he moved up to third, 2:45 off the lead. Belkin's smart and well executed plan also moved its rider, Bauke Mollema from the Netherlands, to second, now 2:28 from Froome, instead of the 3:37 deficit he started the stage with.

Still, Froome's time cushion remains significant and he is an excellent climber. The imposing Mont Ventoux this Sunday and the Alps next week offer him chances to do damage of his own.

''Having lost a minute there, that's always a bitter pill to swallow because we've worked really hard already to get the advantage we had. But saying that, we only lost a minute,'' he said. ''I think there will be more time won and lost on a stage like Ventoux.''

Cavendish just managed to stay with Contador's group when they accelerated away. He then beat Peter Sagan in the finishing sprint. Cavendish's 25th win moved him level with Frenchman Andre Leducq on the Tour's all-time list of stage winners. Now, only Bernard Hinault, with 28, and Eddy Merckx, with 34, have more than the Briton.

''An exceptional day,'' said race director Christian Prudhomme. ''The Tour is far from over.''

---

AP Sports Writers Jerome Pugmire in Saint-Amand-Montrond and Joseph Wilson in Barcelona contributed.

Although the vast majority of apple juice that has been tested by the FDA over the years has contained low levels of inorganic arsenic that were considered safe, the FDA has been wrestling whether to set limits because of the cancer risk.

The agency on Friday proposed a limit of 10 parts per billion (ppb) for inorganic arsenic in apple juice, the level set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for arsenic in drinking water. (http://link.reuters.com/jac69t)

"This action level will keep any apple juice that may have more inorganic arsenic than that out of the marketplace," Michael Taylor, the FDA's deputy commissioner for foods and veterinary medicine, said in a blog post.

Last year the agency tested 94 samples of arsenic in apple juice and found that all were below the 10 ppb threshold for inorganic arsenic. The FDA is now setting that limit as the allowable future benchmark. It will accept public comments on its recommendations for 60 days.

Inorganic arsenic may be found in foods because it is present in the environment, both as a naturally occurring mineral and due to the use of arsenic-containing pesticides.

Inorganic arsenic has been associated with skin lesions, developmental effects, cardiovascular disease, neurotoxicity and diabetes. Organic forms of arsenic, also found in soil and ground water, are considered essentially harmless.

Some consumer groups said the limit on arsenic is a good first step, but the carcinogen needs to be limited further.

"The standard they've chosen may not be adequate to fully protect the public," said Caroline Smith DeWaal, director of food safety at the Center for Science in the Public Interest.

Juice sold by any one company can be made from concentrate that is obtained throughout the world, including U.S. sources and major suppliers in Asia and South America.

The proposal was applauded by non-profit, independent product-testing organization Consumer Reports, which called it a "reasonable first step in protecting consumers from unnecessary exposure to arsenic.

"This is also a signal that we need to refocus on how we are introducing arsenic into the environment," said Urvashi Rangan, director of consumer safety and sustainability at Consumer Reports. "You want to see that standard get stronger and stronger over time, and we're going to hope to see that with apple juice."

(Reporting by Esha Dey in Bangalore; Additional reporting by Yasmeen Abutaleb in Washington; Editing by Sreejiraj Eluvangal and Nick Zieminski)

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) -- Chevron Corp. said Wednesday it will invest millions of dollars to expand its Houston facilities, creating 1,752 new jobs and building a new 50-story downtown office tower in the world's energy capital.

California-based Chevron's investment is due in part to $12 million it will be receiving from the Texas Enterprise Fund, according to Gov. Rick Perry's office. The fund is a pot of money meant to attract outside firms and businesses to the state.

"Employers looking to expand or relocate their businesses continue to choose Texas' strong job creation climate, low taxes, smart regulations, fair courts and skilled workforce," Perry said in a statement.

Chevron's new investment will include a 1.7 million-square-foot tower that will house professional, technical and administrative workers to accommodate the oil company's growth in Houston to support its global operations.

The new building will join two others in downtown Houston that Chevron already occupies. The company said all three buildings will create an urban campus with indoor and outdoor common areas, enhanced dining facilities, a fitness center, training and conference facilities, and additional parking.

Chevron currently has about 9,000 employees and contractors in Houston, where nine of its businesses are headquartered.

"The Lone Star State and its largest city play a vital and growing role in Chevron's global business," said Bereket Haregot, president of Chevron's Business and Real Estate Services group.

Houston Mayor Annise Parker said the city is excited by Chevron's new investment.

"The company's expansion, supported by the Texas Enterprise Fund grant, will broaden its local presence even more, boosting the local economy with hundreds of new jobs while also fostering synergy and collaboration with their existing business units and other Houston businesses," Parker said.

The Texas Enterprise Fund, overseen by Perry's office, was created in 2003 by the Legislature and has been used to persuade various firms to expand in Texas. Projects financed by the fund have to be approved by the governor, lieutenant governor and the Texas House speaker.

The governor said the fund has now invested more than $498 million and helped close the deal on projects generating more than 69,000 new jobs and $20.8-plus billion in capital investment statewide.

Against a soundtrack of romantic orchestral music and the backdrop of a twisted old olive tree, the collection presented on the first day of Milan Fashion Week on Saturday referenced the southern island's architectural wonders, natural beauty and native fauna.

The designing duo Domenico Dolce and Stefano Gabbana stamped their creations with images of ancient Greek temples and pastoral countryside scenes, imprinted across three-piece suits and loose top-and-shorts combinations. The renderings are in black-and-white and color, creating a tapestry effect.

Dolce&Gabbana's Sicily is both formal and restrained, requiring suits that can be bold in shimmering red or blue, or simply somber black, and casual and lusty, with roughly woven drawstring pants or Bermuda shorts worn with nothing at all.

Outfits were paired with woven shoes, dark or white, or Greek-style leather sandals.

Just after the designers took their bows at the end of the show, a naked man jumped on the runway. He was immediately led away, and his motives were unclear.

On a more decorous note, Barcelona soccer player Lionel Messi set up shop in a Dolce&Gabbana boutique in the city center Saturday to sign books of photographs taken by Dolce himself.

If immigration reform passes, Obama will remain a powerful legislative force, and prospects for additional accomplishments on budget, taxes, and national security (though difficult) will be enhanced. If immigration reform fails, Obamas lame-duck status will commence and irreversibly limit White House legislative ambitions.

This was true before Obama decided tofor one year mandatory business compliance with the individual mandate in his health care law. But that delay has not only raised questions about the scope of presidential power (how often can Obama whimsically waive or ignore portions of a law he or a special-interest group find discomforting?), it also has solidifiedthroughout the House Republican Conference to any form of comprehensive immigration reform.

The piecemeal approach in the House is the only path to an immigration deal. That means the chamber will not complete its work until late this year at the earliest and probably not until early next yearif ever.

Setting aside politics for a moment, the process may matter more. Because if Republicans want to go to conference with the Senate on immigration, the means by which they get there will, in large measure, determine the outcome. Thats where Angry Birds, at least metaphorically, comes in.

House Republicans will start this month with a border-security bill drafted by Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas.his colleagues sentiments when he derides the last-minute Senate border-security amendment as a bunch of candy thrown in to attract votes. The core of the House GOP approach to immigration reform will start with border security. If it achieves coherence and success there, it may set the table for action for other parts of immigration reform. But the House GOP will start slowly and see if it can generate more momentum. Think of it as renewable energy Republicans might actually like. One experienced GOP lobbyist very close to the House GOP leadership approach described matters this way: They have to start with the easiest (relatively speaking) parts and move onto the next level of difficulty. Its a little like a legislative game of Angry Birds, where each stage gets progressively more complicated and dangerous. And the pigs get bigger. But to win you have to earn more stars.

As with most important cultural trends in America, I know little about and have no experience with . But as I understand it, the game requires birds to destroy pigs in pursuit of eggs. As things get more difficult, more birds with varied skills and talents become available, but the pigs grow larger and more resilient. But let me also focus on the Angry side of the metaphor, because its crucial to understanding the gut-level attitude that House Republicans have toward the Senate immigration bill.

The Senate bill has zero momentum, a top House GOP leadership aide told me. We will not rush through a massive bill that hands massive new resources and powers over to a federal government that has shown itself unable to guard civil liberties or effectively manage those powers and resources.

That sounds angry.

At this stage, other top House GOP aides will only predict passage of a border-security bill. They are uncertain about the other policy dimensionsany other dimension of immigration reformincluding some form of a Dream Act, future flow for legal workers in agriculture, service or high-tech sectors, student visas, or employer verification. House Speaker John Boehner has declared nothing will move off the floor without a majority of votes from the 234-member . That is known as the , for the former GOP speaker. Right now, border security appears to be the only bill that can meet that test. At this stage, no one knows what the House will send the Senate for a conference committee to settle all immigration issues. If the House passes only border security, it concedes a vast array of policy to the Senate bill. That may be where House GOPers land, staking everything on border security to drive the hardest bargain. A very limited game of Angry Birds.

Complicating these strategic decisions is the embedded sense among House Republicans that House Democrats want immigration reform to fail.

Nothing will go far enough for them, another House GOP aide told me. [House Minority Leader Nancy] Pelosi either wants a total victory or an issue to beat us up with. It is clear the House Democrats want to tank this.

More anger.

Whether this is true or not does not seem to matter. That House Republicans believe it to be true means it will to some degree guide their decisions on timing, policy, and politics.

One last thought on politics. House Republicans see aguiding their political calculations. One Republican summarized it this way: Trying to woo roughly 10 percent of the electorate (Latinos) that voted 70 percent for Democrats is not as wise as working in common cause with 70 percent of the electorate that (whites).

House Democrats see the problem differently, of course, and believe that Boehners fate hangs in the balance.

Boehner will not be speaker anymore if he breaks the Hastert Rule, a top House Democratic leadership aide told me. I think that is absolute. I also believe Boehner will have to get very close on a conference report on a majority of House Republicans or his speakership is over. Given the nature of the House GOP membership, that would make any meaningful bill extremely unlikely.

The last important question is whether outside pressure can or will nudge House Republicans toward the Senate bill. The idea that any entity in the business community, or all business entities combined, can force us in a direction we do not want to go is laughable, said a House GOP legislative strategist. They have absolutely zero juice compared to Republican primary voters. If this is what [Sen. Chuck] Schumer [of New York] and his crew believe, they have zero idea of the thought process in our conference and, as a result, zero endgame.

Zero endgame. I dont know if that is a category in Angry Birds. But it is one in legislative politics, and it doesnt portend success.

Exports fell by 3.1 percent compared with a year earlier and imports contracted by 0.7 percent, customs data showed Wednesday. Both were below forecasts of growth in the low single digits.

China's economic growth has slowed this year and is expected to fall further due to weak global demand and an effort by the Chinese central bank to cool a credit boom.

"The export sector is faring very badly. It does suggest overall growth momentum is going to be weaker than we initially expected," said Societe General economist Wei Yao.

New communist leaders who took power last year say they want to pursue slower, more self-sustaining growth based on domestic consumption, reducing reliance on trade and investment. But some analysts say the latest slowdown might be so deep they could be forced to temporarily reverse course and boost lending or government spending to stimulate growth.

A decline in Chinese economic activity could have global repercussions, denting revenues for suppliers of commodities and industrial components such as Australia, Brazil and Southeast Asia. Lower Chinese demand already has depressed global prices for iron ore, copper and other raw materials, cooling an economic boom for exporters.

The ruling party's growth target this year is 7.5 percent, down by almost half from 2007's staggering growth rate of 14.2 percent. Some analysts have suggested growth might dip below 7 percent in coming months dangerously low by Chinese standards.

Some private sector forecasters cut their growth outlook for the year, though to still robust levels above 7 percent, after a credit crunch hit China's financial markets last month. That came as the central bank tried to rein in a lending boom regulators worry could spiral out of control.

"The most likely outcome, in our view, is the Chinese economy going through a period of sluggish growth and adjustment," said UBS economist Tao Wang in a report this week.

Communist leaders have promised to promote private businesses that generate most of China's new jobs and wealth but have yet to make major changes.

Retail sales have fallen short of official forecasts and a HSBC Corp. survey of manufacturers showed activity contracted in June for a second month.

Still, Chinese leaders are unlikely to back away from efforts to overhaul the country's growth model, said Societe Generale's Yao.

"The plan is still to induce some short-term pain in exchange for long-term sustainability," said Yao. "That is still the most sensible choice, but sure, they need to make some marginal adjustments to make sure the economy doesn't slow too fast."

Analysts expected China to report slower growth in trade due to a crackdown on misreporting of data by exporters as a way to evade currency controls and bring extra money into the country. But even with that taken into account, Wednesday's figures were below forecasts for exports to rise by up to 3.5 percent and imports to grow by up to 1.5 percent.

June's export growth was down from May's year-on-year gain of 13.5 percent and import growth was down from 8.2 percent.

China's politically sensitive global trade surplus contracted by 12.4 percent compared with a year earlier to $27.1 billion. Exports were $174.3 billion while imports were $147.2 billion.

Growth in exports to the United States, China's biggest foreign market, fell to 1.8 percent from May's 3.5 percent. Exports to the 27-nation European Union contracted 3.9 percent.

The trade surplus with the U.S. contracted by 15.5 percent from a year earlier to $17.5 billion, but still one of this year's highest levels. The surplus with Europe shrank 20.3 percent to $10.2 billion.

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General Administration of Customs of China: www.customs.gov.cn