IN BRIEF
MINNEAPOLIS
American Airlines, union will seek mediation
American Airlines and the union that represents its baggage handlers said they will ask for a federal mediator after failing to reach a deal for a new contract.
Neither side said specifically why the talks broke down, but the union has been seeking to restore the wages and benefits its members had before making concessions in 2003 when American narrowly avoided bankruptcy.
American and the Transport Workers Union had set a deadline of midnight Saturday to see whether they could make a deal on their own. American spokeswoman Tami McLallen said the airline and the union both signed a request for mediation beforehand, which the union was sending to the National Mediation Board on Monday.
Hawaiian Airlines will add Honolulu-LV flight
Hawaiian Airlines says it plans to add a third flight between Honolulu and Las Vegas starting in February.
The airline said Monday that the new service will depart from Honolulu in the mornings and return the same evening, on Mondays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays.
The airline says it added the flight in response to customer demand.
Las Vegas is one of 10 mainland U.S. cities with direct flights to Hawaii through Hawaiian Airlines.
Las Vegas Sands posts bond on judgment
Las Vegas Sands Corp. posted a bond last week on the judgment won by Hong Kong businessman Richard Suen in a civil lawsuit in May.
The judgment is now more than $60.5 million, which includes the jury award of $43.8 million, $14.8 million in interest added by the judge, and additional interest and costs. The bond Las Vegas Sands posted is for almost $75.7 million, 125 percent of the judgment.
Las Vegas Sands is appealing the verdict to the Nevada Supreme Court.
RENO
Barrick Gold, tribe say work at mine can go on
Lawyers for Barrick Gold Corp., environmentalists and a group of Western Shoshone have agreed what work can proceed at a new Nevada mine until a hearing is held next month on efforts to restrict the project.
Critics of Barrick's Cortez Hills Project in Northern Nevada claim the mine will deface Mount Tenabo, a site held sacred by some members of the Western Shoshone.
Some Western Shoshone members, along with Great Basin Resource Watch, have filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Bureau of Land Management's approval of the 6,700-acre mine, claiming the agency's environmental studies and acceptance of the project were flawed.
They also are seeking an injunction to stop at least part of the mine.
WASHINGTON
Interest rates decline in Treasury auction
Interest rates on six-month Treasury bills have fallen to the lowest level on record at the weekly Treasury auction.
The government said the Monday auction saw rates on six-month bills drop to 0.27 percent, from 0.3 percent last week. Heavy demand for Treasury securities by nervous investors has pushed rates to historically low levels.
While rates on three-month bills edged up slightly, they still remained close to zero. The rate for a three-month bill rose to 0.05 percent, up from 0.005 percent last week.
General Growth, lenders fail to agree
General Growth Properties Inc., the second-largest U.S. mall owner, failed to reach unanimous agreement with lenders on extending the maturity of $900 million in loans for properties in Las Vegas that were due Friday.
Asked whether the company was in default on the Las Vegas loans, General Growth spokesman Tim Goebel said the lenders "haven't acted against us and we're talking."
Talks with the lenders who hold the mortgages on the Fashion Show and the Shoppes at Palazzo in Las Vegas are continuing, the Chicago-based company said in a statement.
In October, General Growth hired Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Eastdil Securities to sell the retail properties in Las Vegas.
NEW YORK
Low mark for yields on 30-year Treasurys
Treasury prices rose Monday, pushing the yield on the 30-year bond below 3 percent, as more grim economic news poured in and another auction of government debt garnered unprecedented demand.
The 10-year U.S. Treasury note gained 0.53 points in price. Its yield, which moves inversely to price, was 2.53 percent, down from 2.59 percent late on Friday.
And in afternoon trading, the 30-year Treasury bond's yield fell to a record low of 2.99 percent, down from 3.05 percent.
INTERNET EXPLORER USERS MAY BE AT RISK
SAN FRANCISCO -- Users of all current versions of Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer browser may be vulnerable to having their computers hijacked because of a security hole in the software that had yet to be fixed Monday.
The flaw lets criminals commandeer victims' machines merely by tricking them into visiting Web sites tainted with malicious programming code. As many as 10,000 sites have been compromised since last week to exploit the browser flaw, antivirus software maker Trend Micro Inc. said.
The sites are mostly Chinese and have been serving programs that steal passwords for computer games, which can be sold on the black market. But, the hole is such that it could be "adopted by more financially motivated criminals for more serious mayhem," Trend Micro security researcher Paul Ferguson said Monday.
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
