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Europe’s largest retailer Carrefour SA Wednesday posted an unexpected net loss in the first half and abandoned its growth target for the year amid the economic slowdown.

The French retailer reported a net loss of euro249 million ($359 million) in the first six months of the year, compared with a profit of euro97 million a year earlier.

Carrefour said it expects its operating profit to decline this year, reversing a target the retailer set in March when it said an ongoing and expensive “transformation plan” would raise profits this year.

The company’s share price slumped on the Paris stock exchange as investors took fright at the suddenly worsened outlook for the giant retailer, which which operates chains of grocery stores and hypermarkets across Europe as well as in Latin America and Asia.

By mid-morning Carrefour shares were down 4 percent at euro17.88.

As it did last year, Carrefour booked what it calls “significant one-off charges” again in the first half. They amounted to euro884 million in the first half, over half of which went to writing down the value of Carrefour’s Italian assets.

Worringly for Carrefour, after years of failed attempts to turn-around profitability in its core French market, earnings fell 40 percent in the first half. The company blamed a reorganization of its processes and systems which caused large inventory shortages, as well as rising raw commodity costs and sharpened price competition among retailers fighting to draw in increasingly budget-minded consumers.

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Hundreds of thousands of Yemenis poured into the streets of major cities and towns across the country on Friday, keeping the pressure on the nation’s embattled president to step down.

The mass demonstrations in the capital, Sanaa, and at least 17 other cities and towns, including Taiz and Ibb, were the largest since President Ali Abdullah Saleh left a hospital in Saudi Arabia, where he was recovering from wounds suffered in a June attack on his palace compound, and signaled he intends to return home soon.

Yemen is reeling from nearly six months of protests by activists calling for an end to Saleh’s 33 years in power. The crisis has sparked armed conflict between Saleh’s forces and heavily armed tribesmen who have turned against him, further destabilizing the already fragile and impoverished country. And there are fears that Yemen’s al-Qaida offshoot will gain from the turmoil and have a freer hand in plotting attacks on the West.

On Friday, hundreds of thousands of anti-government protesters defied the scorching summer weather and the dawn-to-dusk fasting hours during the holy month of Ramadan to renew their demands for Saleh’s resignation, waving Yemeni flags and chanting anti-regime slogans, according to witnesses.

Protest organizer Abdel Handi al-Azazi said that the high turnout for Friday’s demonstrations sent a clear message to Saleh that “you will not return to the country whatever you do.”

Al-Azazi said if Saleh does indeed return, the protest movement will push to have him put on trial.

“We want to see Saleh in cage, to be the second Arab president to be tried by his own people,” he said.

Former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, who was toppled by a popular uprising in February, went on trial earlier this month in Cairo.

Since Saleh left Yemen, the country has been in limbo, with both the protesters demands and the question of who will succeed Saleh unresolved. The U.S. and Saudi Arabia have pressured Saleh to remain in Riyadh since his return is likely to spark renewed violence in the country.

Yemen’s opposition parties and the country’s most powerful tribal confederation have endorsed a U.S. backed power-transfer deal which would give Saleh immunity from prosecution if he steps down.

On Thursday, Saleh told his top ruling party officials in a meeting in Riyadh that he objects to key issues in the deal and has made ambiguous demands for changes.

Pro-democracy youth groups and Yemeni protesters however reject the deal and demand prosecution of Saleh and his regime members.

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China’s state news agency says 10 families of the victims of a high-speed train crash have agreed to accept compensation from the government.

Xinhua News Agency reported Saturday that 10 families will receive about $142,000 each for their relatives who died in a train accident in the eastern city of Wenzhou that killed 40 and left more than 190 injured.

Public anger toward the government over safety concerns has grown after a high-speed train rammed into another a week ago.

In the latest attempt to assuage public anger, authorities nearly doubled the amount of compensation for each victim this week from an initial $78,000 to $142,000.

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Hundreds of new website suffixes should begin appearing by late next year after the organization that oversees the Internet address system voted Monday to greatly expand domain names.

The new domains could be categorized by subjects including industry, geography and ethnicity and include Arabic, Chinese and other scripts, the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers said at a meeting in Singapore.

“This is the start of a whole new phase for the internet,” said Peter Dengate Thrush, chairman of ICANN’s board of directors. “Unless there is a good reason to restrain it, innovation should be allowed to run free No teletrack payday loans.”

ICANN’s decision culminates six years of negotiations and is the biggest change to the domain name system since .com was introduced 26 years ago.

ICANN will receive applications for new domain names _ the fee is $185,000 and the form is 360 pages _ for 90 days beginning January 12.

ICANN said in a statement that it will embark on a global communications program to raise awareness of the opportunities to new domain names.

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German health authorities say locally-grown beansprouts have been identified as the likely cause of an outbreak of E. coli that has killed 18 people and sickened hundreds in Europe.

Lower Saxony agriculture ministry spokesman Gert Hahne has told The Associated Press an alert will be sent out later Sunday warning people to stay away from eating the sprouts, which are often used in mixed salads.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

HAMBURG, Germany (AP) _ Germany’s health minister is defending his country’s handling of the E. coli outbreak that has killed 18 people and sickened hundreds as he tours a hospital in Hamburg.

Minister Daniel Bahr has admitted that hospitals in northern Germany were struggling to provide enough beds and medical care for patients stricken by the outbreak. But on Sunday he visited the University Medical Center in Hamburg-Eppendorf and defended the efforts of German medical workers.

Bahr told reporters that hospitals have done “everything necessary” to help their patients.

One E. coli survivor told The Associated Press, however, that sanitary conditions at that hospital were horrendous when she arrived with cramps and bloody diarrhea.

German researchers have been unable to pinpoint exactly where or what food was responsible for the deadly outbreak.

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The International Monetary Fund is urging Europe to push shaky banks to strengthen their finances as the best way to keep the debt crisis in Greece, Portugal and Ireland from hitting a growing eurozone economy.

The Washington, DC-based international organization says stress tests are a key opportunity to fix banks by forcing those found to be weak to raise new capital, which can be done by investors or government stumping in more money.

The issue is important to the rest of the economy because a number of banks hold Greek, Irish and Portuguese debt, complicating efforts to resolve those countries debt problems. A default or restructuring of that debt could hit banks so hard they wouldn’t be able to loan money to companies, spreading financial trouble to the wider economy.

The IMF estimates that the 17 countries that use the euro will see growth of 1.7 percent this year and 1.9 percent next year, if debt crises don’t derail the economy.

“Financial linkages between countries with sovereign debt troubles and the rest of Europe could potentially pose more risk to the outlook,” the IMF said in its regional economic outlook for Europe released Thursday.

With banks holding bonds from indebted countries, “a shock to confidence could spread quickly throughout Europe.”

The European banking regulator is running stress tests on banks, with results due in June. A set of tests last year was regarded as too easy to restore confidence in the system.

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Sales at U.S. retailers probably climbed in April, reinforcing evidence that employment gains are allowing Americans to weather higher fuel costs, economists said before reports this week.

The projected 0.6 percent gain in purchases would follow a 0.4 percent increase in March, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey ahead of Commerce Department figures May 12. Another report may show the cost of living increased.

Demand at chains including Limited Brands Inc. and Macy’s Inc. (M) topped analysts’ estimates last month as payrolls nationally increased more than projected. While mounting fuel and food costs are pinching household budgets, improving job prospects mean consumer spending, which accounts for about 70 percent of the economy, can keep growing.

Industrywide light-vehicle sales ran at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 13.2 million in April, topping the 13 million pace for the third straight month, according to researcher Autodata Corp. Detroit-based cash advance.bloomberg.com/general-motors-co/” href=”http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=GM:US” density=”sparse” title=”Get Quote” ticker=”GM:US” class=”web_ticker”>General Motors Co. (GM)’s U.S. deliveries jumped 26 percent, while Dearborn, Michigan- based Ford Motor Co. (F) had a 13 percent gain.

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The Associated Press has reached a tentative agreement on a labor contract that the news cooperative says would provide financial stability during a time of media upheaval.

The deal announced Friday follows six months of negotiations and would cover about 1,200 newsroom and technology employees represented by the News Media Guild.

The main dispute involved management’s insistence on freezing a longstanding pension plan, in which monthly payments in retirement are defined. Future retirement contributions would instead go into an employee-controlled account similar to a 401(k). The union ultimately agreed to the pension freeze, and the company said it would increase contributions to the alternative plan for affected employees for eight years.

In return for the freeze, the AP also agreed not to seek an increase in employees’ health insurance payments. Employees would get three raises of 1.5 percent each and improved job security. The contract would cover 33 months and expire at the end of August 2013.

The tentative agreement comes after several years of financial hardship for many of the newspapers and broadcasters that receive AP’s services. Newspapers have been the hardest hit as billions of dollars in advertising revenue has shifted to less expensive alternatives on the Internet. The turmoil has triggered layoffs and pay cuts at many newspapers.

Those troubles have led the AP to lower its fees for U.S. newspapers and broadcasters by $80 million during the past two years. The fee reductions are the main reason the AP’s annual revenue fell from $748 million in 2008 to $631 million last year. To save money, the AP has reduced its payroll from nearly 4,300 employees in 2008 to about 3,560.

AP sought the pension freeze to help lower its costs in the future and make up for a more than $100 million shortfall in the plan.

“These were very difficult talks, covering difficult topics in uncertain economic times,” said Jessica Bruce, the AP’s vice president of human resources. “With this agreement now in place, AP and its staff can now focus their attention and energy on the initiatives critical to driving revenue so that AP can stay competitive and maintain its leadership in the media marketplace.”

The agreement came after the union threatened to file allegations of unfair labor practice and management threatened to withdraw several of its key proposals payday loans.

Tony Winton, the president of the News Media Guild, said the union felt the deal was the best possible without going on strike. A formal strike vote was never taken during the talks.

“This was the most challenging bargaining we have ever had with the AP,” Winton said. “Our membership showed tremendous courage and unity.”

The union hopes to schedule a vote in time for the new contract to be ratified by June 1.

If the contract is approved, the pension plan would freeze guaranteed monthly retirement benefits at the amounts earned through June 30.

Future retirement contributions would go to a plan that shifts the responsibility for retirement planning and investing to workers. Contributions are defined but benefits are not. Such a plan is similar to a 401(k).

The AP already had stopped offering the traditional pension plan to management employees hired since 2005 and union-covered employees since March 2006. Those newer employees receive 3 percent of salary in the defined-contribution plan. All employees are also eligible to participate in a 401(k) plan. For union employees, the AP contributes up to 3 percent of salary to a 401(k).

The new agreement would eliminate the 401(k) match for union-covered employees. The AP would contribute 6 percent of salary to the defined-contribution plan. That would allow employees to receive the maximum contribution even if they don’t contribute to the 401(k).

Besides the 6 percent, employees affected by the pension freeze would get an additional contribution of 1 percent or 2 percent of salary to the defined-contribution plan over the next eight years, depending on how long they have been with the company.

The union said the pension freeze would affect about 950 of the 1,200 covered by the new agreement.

Some newspaper companies have frozen traditional pension plans as they try to overcome a sharp drop in revenue. Gannett Co., owner of USA Today and more than 80 other daily newspapers, froze its pension plan in 2008. McClatchy Co., publisher of The Sacramento (Calif.) Bee, The Miami Herald and 28 other daily newspapers, did so in 2009.

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Launching a week devoted to selling his deficit-reduction plan, President Barack Obama on Saturday drew sharp contrasts with a House Republican budget that he says offers a vision that “is wrong for America.”

In his weekly radio and Internet address, Obama charged Republicans with seeking to dismantle venerable safety net programs and choosing tax cuts for the wealthy at the expense of students paying for college or older adults on Medicare.

“To restore fiscal responsibility, we all need to share in the sacrifice - but we don’t have to sacrifice the America we believe in,” Obama said.

The criticism echoed his speech Wednesday in which he unveiled a $4 trillion deficit-reduction plan over 12 years, a goal he says he can achieve with a blend of spending cuts, changes in major government health care programs and tax increases.

Obama’s message represents his clearest attempt to place ideological distance with Republicans after months spent negotiating a compromise six-month spending bill that trimmed more than $38 billion from the government. Obama signed that legislation Friday.

Obama plans to continue his plan’s pitch throughout the week, holding town halls in Northern Virginia Tuesday and in Palo Alto, Calif,, and Reno, Nev., later in the week during a Western tour that includes at least two Democratic Party fundraisers.

While trying to cast the debate in his own terms, the president’s attention to fiscal discipline signals a watershed in national politics. After two years devoted to priming an anemic economy with new spending and passing an overhaul of health care, Congress and the White House are beginning a debate about how to tame long-term deficits and a crushing debt of more than $14 trillion.

In the Republicans’ weekly address, Sen. Tom Coburn of Oklahoma called that turning point “a monumental shift for Washington.”

Still, Obama predicted in an interview with The Associated Press on Friday that fundamental questions about how to change giant benefit programs like Medicare and Medicaid or how to change the tax system might have to wait until after the 2012 presidential elections.

He conceded, however, that he would have to offer spending cuts to win votes in the Republican-controlled House for an increase in the debt limit. The debt will hit its ceiling of $14.3 trillion by mid-May, and administration officials say the cap must be raised by no later than early July.

And while Obama, in the interview, predicted a “smart compromise,” his address Saturday left little room for common ground with the House Republican budget. That plan, approved by the House Friday, would reduce deficits by $4 trillion over the next 10 years. It would extend Bush-era tax cuts at all income levels, repeal Obama’s health care law and overhaul of Medicare by providing future retirees a voucher-style federal payment to purchase coverage from private plans.

“It’s a vision that says that in order to reduce the deficit, we have to end Medicare as we know it and make cuts to Medicaid that would leave millions of seniors, poor children and Americans with disabilities without the care they need,” Obama said.

Obama has adopted a sharper, partisan tone since announced his re-election bid more than a week ago.

Coburn said Obama’s sharp critique of the House Republican budget amounted to “campaign-style political attacks.”

“Instead of describing the threat and bringing both sides together, the president attacked those who have a different vision of the government,” he said.

Coburn is one of a bipartisan group of six senators working to find a compromise on long-term deficit reduction. The group has not tipped its hand as its members continue to seek common ground. They have not set a timeline for achieving a compromise.

Coburn, however, praised the House Republican Medicare proposal, suggesting that the so-called Gang of Six may still have a long way to go before reaching a compromise.

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Manufacturing activity cooled off a bit last month after expanding in February at the fastest pace in nearly seven years.

The Institute for Supply Management says the sector grew for the 20th straight month. Its index of manufacturing activity dipped to 61.2 from 61.4 in February. Any reading above 50 indicates growth.

February’s reading was the highest in nearly seven years. The index bottomed out during the recession at 33.3 in December 2008, the lowest point since June 1980 bad credit pay day loans.

Production increased at a faster pace last month, the report showed. New orders increased at a slower pace.

Manufacturing has been a key driver of economic growth and employment since the recession ended in June 2009. Consumers have spent more on autos, appliances and electronic goods.

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