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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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Two Japanese automakers are halting some production at North American factories to assess availability of parts following Friday’s deadly earthquake and tsunami in Japan.

Subaru of America says it has suspended overtime at its plant in Lafayette, Ind. The plant, Subaru’s only North American factory, employs 3,500 workers and built 150,000 vehicles last year, including the Outback and Tribeca wagons and Legacy sedan.

Toyota is suspending overtime and production on Saturdays at all of its North American plants to assess the availability of car parts.

Both automakers are trying to conserve parts after the huge earthquake and tsunami, which is disrupting shipments from Japan to the U.S.

Japanese automakers Nissan and Honda say their North American plants have not been affected so far.

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For the second time in his career, major league baseball’s spring training has heightened meaning for Tim Hanser.

After his dad was part of a group that bought the St. Louis Cardinals in 1996, Hanser spent 12 years working for the Redbirds, including overseeing international scouting and heading the team’s community foundation.

As vice president of community outreach for the Cardinals, Hanser helped oversee the funding of new youth baseball fields, including Stan Musial Field in Jennings and the Lou Brock Field in the Murphy Park neighborhood of St. Louis.

Hanser, who owns a World Series ring from the 2006 winning season, left the high profile world of professional sports in May 2008 when he and a group of investors acquired apparel company A & E Group.

A & E Group’s cause-related merchandise division designs jackets, shirts and accessories and donates a portion of the proceeds to breast cancer organizations. The company’s other divisions include outdoor jackets and shirts and medical scrubs and accessories.

The 15-year-old privately held company has 25 full-time employees. Its products are made overseas and distributed from the company’s St. Charles headquarters and warehouse complex. (A & E will move to a new headquarters and distribution complex in Maryland Heights next month.)

Last summer, Hanser returned to his baseball roots by launching a new division, Three60 Gear, which features shirts with high-resolution images of sports figures on the front and back. Hanser has signed a licensing agreement with Major League Baseball and the National Basketball Association for the shirts and is in talks with other professional sports leagues.

As baseball spring training heats up, Hanser said he’s gearing up to expand the Three60 brand into more stadiums and is negotiating with retail customers that are putting together their baseball merchandise lineups.

How did your career path go from the Cardinals to owning a clothing company?

My first job, I was a researcher in Washington D.C. for the U.S. Senate, researching bills and legislation in Jack Danforth’s office. Then I taught for a couple years after that, at a high school in downtown D.C.

In 1996, I came back to St. Louis to join the St. Louis Cardinals.

And three years ago, I bought A & E.

Other than Cardinals merchandising and the Cardinals retail side, I didn’t have experience in apparel.

I really value the charitable, cause-related part of the business. Also, I love the outdoors: hunting and fishing and hiking. I thought it was an exciting company that had potential to grow.

Your acquisition of A & E coincided with the start of the recession. How did that effect you?

Yeah, great timing, huh? We were in process with the purchase just as things were starting to feel a little uncertain. But believe it or not, we’ve kind of powered through the recession, and Three60 is part of our surging forward short term personal loans. We’ve been very fortunate. We’ve got a great strong banking relationship with M&I Bank, and we’ve been able to keep growing.

Where did the idea for the sports-related Three60 Gear brand come from?

We wanted to do something for fans that was completely unique and totally different. We came up with Three60 Gear as a way to put high-def full action sports images on shirts. Through a process called dye sublimation, the image is first printed on a sheet of paper, and then it’s heat pressed, or sublimated, onto the blank white shirt.

The shirt is key. It’s a shirt that fans love because it has all the wicking features, and it’s antimicrobial. It’s not your uncle’s cotton T-shirt.

Each shirt has a patch with a serial number. Fans can go to the website, type in the serial number, and find out all the details about the image: it was on this date, this opponent, he was pitching against this player, etc. It’s a real interactive way that fans can find out more about the shirt. We’ve never seen anything like it.

How have sales been so far?

Last year, we tested with the Cardinals, Yankees, Phillies, Giants and a few other teams. Fans last fall were gobbling them up. Now we can do shirts for many additional teams. We sell at stadiums, sporting good stores and department stores. This year, we’re in about 20 of the 30 Major League Baseball markets.

We also have a brand new e-commerce site we’re relaunching later in March. If you happen to love the Giants and you live in St. Louis, you’ll be able to go to our website and they’ll all be there. At most retailers, they’re around $40, and at stadium shops and our website, they’re a little higher. It’s an exciting way for fans to show their pride, to show their true colors.

Your company is moving from St. Charles to leased space in the Westport area of Maryland Heights next month. What’s prompting the move?

It’ll give us more space in the office and give us more efficiency in the warehouse. It’s about the same square feet as we have now, but it’s configured much better. Most of our warehouse now is all one level, so we can’t stack things up. This is going to be a step up for us.

Our customers are nationwide. Shipping-wise, it’s nice to be in the center of the country. We can ship to each coast very quickly.

We’re constantly evolving because we know that consumers want apparel that’s cutting edge design, and the newest fabrics and technologies. So we incorporate that in all of our divisions where we can. If there’s an antimicrobial technique for our medical line, we’ll add it there, or a wicking material, for the hikers or hunters, we’ll put that in our product assortment. It’s a competitive field and we know each day we have to earn our customer’s business with great designs, great delivery and competitive pricing.

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Bank Indonesia kept its benchmark interest rate at a record low even after consumer prices rose at the fastest pace in 20 months, betting measures such as higher bank reserve requirements will keep inflation in check.

The central bank maintained its reference rate at 6.5 percent for a 17th meeting, it said in Jakarta today. Thirteen of 15 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News had expected the decision. The measure is at the lowest level since its introduction in July 2005.

Indonesia ordered banks to set aside more cash as reserves to reduce inflationary pressure in 2010, while refraining from joining Malaysia, Thailand and India in boosting borrowing costs. A rate increase would risk luring more capital as Europe’s sovereign credit woes and a U.S. unemployment rate that remains above 9 percent restrain growth in developed markets, spurring funds to seek better returns in emerging economies.

“For the short and medium term it might have a good effect on the economy because it won’t attract more fund inflows,” Norico Gaman, head of research at PT BNI Securities in Jakarta, said before the decision. Still, “Indonesia needs to increase rates this quarter if inflation is supported by demand, and not just food and commodity prices.”

Consumer prices rose 6.96 percent last month from a year earlier, a report showed Jan. 3, exceeding the 6.71 percent median forecast in a Bloomberg survey of 14 economists. Core inflation was 4.28 percent in December, easing from 4.31 percent the previous month.

Bank Indonesia “won’t hesitate” to raise its benchmark rate if core inflation exceeds 5 percent, Deputy Governor Hartadi Sarwono said Dec. 22. The current rate is consistent with Indonesia’s goal of achieving inflation of 4 percent to 6 percent in 2011 and 3.5 percent to 5.5 percent in 2012, Deputy Governor Budi Mulya said last week.

Evading Recession

Southeast Asia’s largest economy escaped a recession during the 2009 global slowdown and its expansion has pushed stocks to a record and lifted the rupiah to a three-year high. Moody’s Investors Service said last month it’s placed the nation’s Ba2 credit rating on review for a possible upgrade, citing the nation’s economic resilience and improving debt position.

The rupiah gained 4 no faxing payday loans.6 percent in 2010 and reached 8,875 a dollar on Nov. 5, its strongest level since June 2007. The Jakarta Composite Index gained 46 percent last year, the best performer among Asia’s 10 biggest stock markets.

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono is targeting annual growth of 6.6 percent on average through the remainder of his term ending in 2014, and companies from PT Bank Pan Indonesia to AirAsia Bhd. are counting on rising demand in the world’s fourth-most populous nation to boost their businesses.

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Discover Financial Services Co. says its fourth-quarter profit rose slightly as sales volume jumped and the credit card issuer wrote off fewer uncollected bills.

The Riverwoods, Ill.-based company says net income attributed to common stockholders was $346.5 million, or 64 cents per share, versus $330.5 million, or 60 cents per share. last year. Wall Street was expecting profit of 43 cents per share.

Sales volume of $23 billion is up 6 percent from last year.

Discover says net charge-offs _ bills the company doesn’t expect to collect _ dropped to 6 payday lenders.58 percent of balances from 7.98 percent last year. Payments late by 30 days or more also fell, and the company lowered its reserves for covering souring loans.

Discover shares rose 25 cents to $19.38 in premarket trading.

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