Greek market fears ease over election

ATHENS, Greece — With less than two weeks to a general election, Greece's financial markets were steadying Monday — a sign investors are a little less concerned that the result could lead to the country dropping out of the euro.

By midafternoon in Athens, the yield on Greece's 10-year bond was down 0.66 percentage point at 9.32 percent. The main stock index was up 4.3 percent.

Despite the improvements, Greek bonds and shares are still faring worse than when the election was called at the end of 2014.

Opinion polls indicate the Jan. 25 election will see the anti-bailout Syriza party come first ahead of conservative prime minister Antonis Samaras' New Democracy.

However, easing market nerves somewhat, Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras said in a weekend interview that a government headed by his party would honor upcoming debt obligations in March. Many investors are worried that his left-wing party could unilaterally renege on the country's bailout loans.

Syriza is demanding that more than half of Greek bailout debt — totaling 240 billion euros ($283 billion) — be canceled, arguing that a sustained recovery after six years of recession is impossible otherwise.

Syriza would probably need to form a coalition to govern, but its chances of an outright win are increasing as voters focus on the two main parties and ignore alternatives.

"There are indications that the first two parties are pulling ahead ... leaving the small ones behind," Alexis Routzounis of the Kapa Research polling company told the Associated Press.

The polarizing electorate, he argued, reflected a clear choice facing voters between taking a consensual or confrontational line with bailout lenders.

"What counts now, is whether the 12-15 percent still undecided will split with the mindset of a two-party race, or scatter to the smaller parties they previously supported."

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Crayola sorry after hackers make its Facebook page off-color

EASTON, Pa. — Crayola is apologizing after hackers filled its Facebook page with off-color content.

The Forks Township, Pennsylvania-based crayon and marker manufacturer regained control of the page late Sunday and removed the offending posts.

Instead of burnt sienna and cerulean blue, the page's 2.4 million followers saw cartoon breasts and sophomoric sex jokes.

Crayola tweeted early Sunday evening that it was aware of the hack and "making every effort to stop the unauthorized posts." A few hours later, it had restored the page to its usual family friendliness.

"Our sincere apologies to our Facebook community for the inappropriate and offensive posts you may have seen here," the post said.

Crayola LLC is a subsidiary of Kansas City, Missouri-based Hallmark Cards Inc.

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AmerisourceBergen expands into animal health with $2.5B deal

Pharmaceutical distributor AmerisourceBergen will stretch its reach into veterinary medicine by spending about $2.5 billion to acquire MWI Veterinary Supply.

AmerisourceBergen Corp. said Monday that it will pay $190 in cash for each share of MWI, a premium of 8 percent to the closing price of MWI shares on Friday, the last trading day before the deal was announced. The deal value includes $76 million in MWI Veterinary Supply debt.

AmerisourceBergen distributes prescription drugs and also provides pharmaceutical consulting, but the Chesterbrook, Pennsylvania, company had no animal health business before this deal. Boise, Idaho-based MWI Veterinary Supply Inc. sells animal health products in the United States and United Kingdom.

AmerisourceBergen CEO Steven H. Collis said in a statement that animal health is a growing market both in the United States and internationally, and adding that business is a "logical extension" of his company's pharmaceutical distribution work.

The companies expect to close the deal early this year. AmerisourceBergen will start its offer to buy the shares later this month, and the deal is contingent on MWI shareholders tendering at least a majority of the company's outstanding shares.

AmerisourceBergen said the deal will add about 8 cents per share to its fiscal 2015 adjusted earnings. It expects to finance the purchase with cash and long-term debt.

Shares of MWI jumped more than 8 percent, or $14.25, to trade at $189.90, or 10 cents short of the offer price, shortly after markets opened on Monday. AmerisourceBergen stock rose 16 cents to $93.16.

AmerisourceBergen shares had already jumped 28 percent last year, more than doubling the 11.4 percent advance of the Standard & Poor's 500 index. In contrast, MWI Veterinary Inc. shares fell slightly last year.

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GM's new electric could upstage Tesla _ and its own Volt

DETROIT — With the introduction of an affordable electric car that can go 200 miles on a single charge, General Motors is setting up a showdown with Tesla to sell an electric vehicle to the masses. It may also upstage a car of its own.

GM on Monday unveiled the Chevrolet Bolt, a $30,000 concept car that likely will go on sale in about two years. The range will make it attractive to many who wouldn't consider a fully electric car for fear of running out of juice. The rollout of the orange compact hatchback eclipsed GM's unveiling of a revamped Chevy Volt Monday at the Detroit auto show.

When the plug-in gas-electric hybrid Volt was introduced as a concept car in 2007, it was touted as an electric vehicle for everyone. It could go 38 miles on battery power, with a gas generator taking over to end worries of being stranded. But its $40,000 price tag hamstrung sales, even with a $7,500 federal tax credit.

Enter the Bolt, a hatchback with a hefty range and SUV-like cargo area and a price that's about the same as the average selling price of a new vehicle in America.

Technically the Bolt is a concept car, but GM plans to start selling a production version sometime in 2017. That sets up a showdown with Silicon Valley's Tesla Motors Inc., which plans to deliver a mass-market, 200-mile electric car for around $35,000 in the same time frame.

But the Bolt could leave the updated and restyled Volt behind, even though GM put a significant effort into increasing the Volt's electric range by one third to 50 miles and adding features that customers want, like five seats instead of four.

When the Bolt, which looks like a cross between a Volkswagen Golf and BMW's electric i3, rolled onto a stage at the Chevy exhibit, CEO Mary Barra said, "For most people, this car can be their daily drive."

Although hatchbacks typically haven't sold well in the U.S., GM says the Bolt's cargo space and high seating will give it extra appeal. Both those features are fueling a boom in crossover SUV sales. "What we really tried to do is take a lot of things that people love about owning a crossover and try and incorporate that," said Stuart Norris, director of advanced design for GM in Korea, where much of the Bolt was designed.

But that functionality is another reason that people may pick the Bolt over the Volt.

Four years ago then-GM CEO Dan Akerson predicted the company would sell 60,000 Volts per year. Instead, GM has sold about 73,000 total since the car went on the market. Its best sales year was 2012 at just over 23,400. Sales last year dropped 19 percent to just under 19,000.

Neither electric car is likely to get on car buyers' radar in the short run with gasoline running around $2.15 per gallon, said Jeff Schuster, executive vice president of forecasting for LMC Automotive, an industry consulting firm.

"Even the 200-mile thing, which is a remarkable achievement and something that certainly everyone has been chasing, I think it risks getting lost in the shuffle where gas prices are right now," he said.

Oil prices — and therefore gas prices — are volatile, so things could change by the time the Bolt hits the market. Schuster says if gas prices stay low, neither the Bolt nor the Volt will sell well. And that will buy other automakers time to catch up with their own 200-mile electrics. Plus, cheap gas means it will take longer for owners to recoup the premium paid for an electric car with savings from not buying gasoline.

GM has dialed back sales expectations for Volt 2.0, and executives are confident there's a market for it when it arrives in showrooms in the second half of next year. They're targeting the Volt not so much to those who want to save on gas but more toward those who bought the first generation — tech-saavy individuals who want to drive on electricity without worrying about running out of juice.

And gas prices inevitably will swing to the Volt's favor, says Steve Majoros, marketing director for Chevrolet cars. "I don't know where we're going to be six months from now," he said. "I don't think that gas price is the primary determining factor for a car like this."

The new Volt is sleeker and faster than the old one. It's 200 pounds lighter and the generator gets the equivalent of 41 miles per gallon on the highway rather than 38. Engineers also made it more aerodynamic, with grille shutters that close when air isn't needed and a spoiler built into the tail lights and rear hatch. It's zero-to-30 mph time is 2.6 seconds, 20 percent better than the old one. The car also comes with optional heated rear seats and the latest in active cruise control that can keep the car a safe distance from those in front of it.

The middle seat in the back isn't exactly optimal. A rider has to straddle a cup holder, and there's little headroom beneath the sloping roof.

Akerson at one point implored engineers to take $10,000 in cost out of the next generation. Barra won't say whether that was accomplished, although she said progress was made. GM also won't say how much it spent to develop the car or how much the new one will cost.

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Foreign money floods Boston real estate market

Foreign investment in Greater Boston real estate has skyrocketed to record heights, more than tripling in the past year and bringing new ownership to some of the area's premier addresses.

Foreign buyers spent $4.2 billion in deals for office properties that included buyers from Canada, Norway, Japan, Chile, Switzerland, Ireland, the Netherlands, France, Hong Kong, Japan and Singapore. That was up from $1.3 billion in 2013.

"My prediction is that more than half of the investment sales coming up this year will be foreign investors," said David Begelfer, CEO of NAIOP Massachusetts, a commercial real estate development trade group. "We've been discovered. Some of these larger deals are pension fund money, sovereign funds."

The proportion of foreign investment has nearly doubled in the past year: Foreign investors accounted for about 30 percent of the approximately $14.4 billion in real estate transactions that were $2.5 million or greater last year, excluding homes, according to Real Capital Analytics, a New York commercial real estate data firm. That's up from about 16.5 percent of the $11.02 billion in 2013 transactions.

Almost half the money spent on office buildings in 2014 was by foreign investors, accounting for 46 percent of the $9.17 billion in deals — up from 27 percent in 2013.

Among the biggest were a September trifecta by Oxford Properties Group, the real estate arm of Canada's Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System. Oxford snatched up three top addresses from Blackstone Group: 60 State St. for $817.49 million and 225 Franklin St. in Boston for $590 million, and Cambridge's 1 Memorial Drive for $405 million, according to Real Capital.

In October, Norges Bank Investment Management, Norway's sovereign wealth fund, paid $715.17 million to Boston Properties for 45 percent of 100 Federal St. and Atlantic Wharf in Boston. In July, Norges and MetLife had bought 1 Beacon St. in Boston for $562 million.

"It's becoming more costly for local buyers to buy property," Begelfer said. "The limited supply of properties to buy and a much larger demand from international players is pushing up the cost."

NAIOP Massachusetts will tackle the issue in a panel discussion tomorrow titled "From the Outside In: How Boston Is Fueled by Foreign Capital."

Boston's booming economy and job creation in biotechnology, technology, health care, research, education and financial services make it attractive to foreign capital, said Riaz Cassum, senior managing director of HFF in Boston, which arranges debt and equity capital for commercial real estate owners, developers and operators.

"It's viewed as a safe dollar-denominated investment," he said. "It has a good diversified economy, low unemployment rate, strong barriers to entry, and Boston's become more accessible just literally in terms of direct flights. ... It's always been attractive to European investors, and now it's expanding to the growing Asian and Middle East capital."

The increasing foreign ownership of properties has broad implications — not all positive, according to Begelfer, who likened the trend to the loss of corporate headquarters in Boston.

"Mayor Menino had … relationships with all the major property owners in Boston and could count on them civically and charitably," Begelfer said. "With this whole new influx of (foreign) buyers, we may not see as much money flowing into civic and charitable initiatives that the new mayor has and that the charities count on. We have some absentee owners who might not be concerned about being the good neighbor."

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Fox News guest derided for saying UK city 'totally Muslim'

LONDON — A news commentator who told Fox News that the British city of Birmingham is "totally Muslim" has apologized for the comments, which drew widespread online ridicule.

Steven Emerson, an American whose website describes him as a leading authority on Islamic extremist networks, told Fox News in a live broadcast Sunday that in Britain "there are actual cities like Birmingham that are totally Muslim, where non-Muslims just simply don't go in."

Emerson, who was discussing the recent terror attacks in Paris with host Jeanine Pirro, also claimed that in parts of London, "Muslim religious police" beat and injure "anyone who doesn't dress according to Muslim religious attire."

Official figures show that the number of Muslims in Birmingham, Britain's second-largest city, numbered at 234,411, or 22 percent of the city's population. That compares to 494,358 who described themselves as Christian.

Emerson quickly tweeted an apology saying his comments were "totally inaccurate." But his comments continued to draw derision online, spawning dozens of humorous reactions on social media.

Many posted absurd, fictitious claims and jokes about Islam and Birmingham with the hashtag #FoxNewsFacts, which was trending on Twitter on Monday. One Twitter user said Birmingham buildings wear burqas and posted a photo of a building covered in scaffolding.

"Bizarre. Ridiculous. Nonsense. These are the only words I can use to describe the statement made by Steve Emerson," said Birmingham lawmaker Shabana Mahmood. "His apology is welcome but frankly the fact that anyone in his line of work could even hold those views is concerning."

Some 1,500 people have signed an online petition demanding an on-air apology to the city's residents.

Fox News did not immediately reply to an email seeking comment.

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Ready, aim, fire: 'Call of Duty Online' ready to invade China

Already one of the videogame industry's biggest franchises, "Call of Duty" is about to prove whether it can conquer the world's largest gaming market, China.

After years of development and beta testing Activision Publishing, a division of Activision Blizzard, has officially launched "Call of Duty Online" as a version of the military actioner designed exclusively for Chinese gamers.

How "Call of Duty" performs in China -- especially in its new form as a free-to-play game -- could have major implications for other gaming franchises that have long been unavailable in the region, at least legally.

Chinese Internet giant Tencent helped Activision launch "Call of Duty Online," and was instrumental in coming up with a version that met government regulations. That included meeting cultural standards, as well as how it gets into the hands of Chinese consumers through digital platforms.

The Chinese government has only recently started loosening up regulations over the videogame industry, with console makers like Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo now able to start selling their PlayStations, Xboxes and Wii Us in the country.

Until now, companies like Santa Monica, Calif.-based Activision have had to focus on getting their games into Internet cafes. But over the past year, high-speed broadband has become more readily available at home, opening the door for an online version of "Call of Duty" to break out.

If it does, it could provide a major windfall to Activision Publishing and Tencent, given just how big the potential gaming audeince is in China.

Through Tencent, Activision has a well-respected partner through which it can promote the game but also collect the revenue that will be generated through in-game purchases -- one major difference from "Call of Duty's" console-based version in the rest of the world.

Some of the changes are tonal, while some are cultural differences, including the level of violence on display, said Activision Publishing president and CEO Eric Hirshberg. "The main one is the way the game plays because it's free-to-play. It's unfolding piece by piece and as more content becomes available."

"The biggest thing is we're taking a game that many people compare to an interactive movie and making sure we keep that scope," through the free-to-play model, Hirshberg said.

Another difference: a popular mode in which gamers fight off zombie soldiers has now been turned into one that features cyborgs because of the country's view of the undead.

"There are some cultural sensitivities that we had to be mindful of," Hirshberg said. "Our partners at Tencent were great guides in that capacity."

Last year's release of "Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare" pushed the franchise past the $10 billion mark when it comes to lifetime revenue, Activision has said. The game also became "the biggest entertainment launch of 2014, in terms of revenue, according to company chief Bobby Kotick.

Still the launch of "Call of Duty Online" comes as Activision's top franchise is seeing signs of a decline.

Launch sales of "Advanced Warfare" were off 27% in November, compared to 2013's "Call of Duty: Ghosts," according to the NPD Group, marking the third year that the series has seen declines. "Advanced Warfare's" first-month sales were off 49% compared to 2011's "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3."

Making the franchise available to hundreds of millions of Chinese gamers could now make up for any of that lost revenue. And in a short time.

Developed by Raven Software, "Call of Duty Online" essentially borrows from "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare" and "Call of Duty: Black Ops." Like other free-to-play games, gamers will be able to upgrade their characters with new weapons and add new levels depending on just how much money they want to invest.

The strategy has proved a major draw for mobile gamers, turning titles like "World of Tanks," "League of Legends," and the more casual "Candy Crush" into mega hits.

The Chinese version of "Call of Duty" will offer single player campaign missions, cooperative experiences and multiplayer modes.

Tencent, founded in 1998, has quickly grown into China's largest Internet service portal. It became a publicly traded company in 2004, on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The company's leading Internet platforms include QQ, WeChat, SoSo, PaiPai and Tenpay.

In development for three years, Activision built a studio from the ground up in Shanghai. Activision and Tencent started offering a beta version of "Call of Duty Online" last June, and closed versions before then.

When it was being developed, most of the online traffic was happening in Internet cafes. Around 70% of that is now happening in the home, with most gamers playing on a PC, not a console.

Activision, which is known for its big-budget marketing campaigns for its game launches, isn't veering away from the high-profile promotion in China.

The company recently rolled out a live action short in which Chris Evans blasts away enemy troops in full soldier mode in sequences that look like they come straight out of a Hollywood action movie.

That kind of campaign "is unheard of in how games are launched in that market," Hirshberg said. "Tencent felt strongly that the way 'Call of Duty' is marketed in the West is as important in how the game is made. Treating a game like blockbuster pieces of entertainment is something that is new for the market and something (Tencent) wanted to embrace."

The video featuring Evans, however, will only be shown online in China, with the rest of "Call of Duty's" campaign also unfolding mostly through Tencent's social media channels.

Now, it's all about whether China will find "Call of Duty" as compelling as Western audiences.

"We wanted to take the time to get it right, and deliver something really special for that market," Hirshberg said. "We didn't want to take the Western game and just translate it."

© 2015 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC

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Volkswagen, Ford take top awards at the Detroit auto show

DETROIT — Ford's big move to aluminum for the body of its flagship F-150 truck has helped it garner some additional material: The hardware that comes with the North American Truck of the Year Award.

Ford took the top truck honor Monday alongside the Volkswagen Golf, which was named car of the year. The winners, voted on by about 60 automotive journalists, were unveiled at the start of press previews for North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

"Clearly the materials have a lot to do with the story of the truck," Ford President of the Americas Joe Hinrichs said, though he added he's "most proud" of what the material does for the vehicle's capabilities.

The aluminum body allowed Ford to reduce the truck's weight by 700 pounds compared with last year's model. That gave it greater hauling and towing capacity and better fuel economy. The lighter weight also makes the truck accelerate faster, stop quicker and handle better, he said.

Ford's truck sales, which amount to 20 percent of its North American sales, slowed last year as the company retooled factories to make the new one. Hinrichs said initial sales have been strong with trucks sitting on dealer lots for an average of only five days. Only one factory in Dearborn, Michigan, is currently making the F-150, but a second factory in Kansas City will be ready by the end of March, he said.

Hinrichs predicted sales would pick up as both plants start supplying dealers.

The F-150 beat out Ford's Lincoln MKC and Chevrolet Colorado for truck honors.

Volkswagen officials were pleasantly surprised by the win over the Ford Mustang and Hyundai Genesis.

"We didn't expect this award," said Michael Horn, VW's CEO in America, while praising competitors and fondly recalling driving a 1967 Mustang. "It's confirmation of the way we've chosen to go forth. It's a starting point to get back on track here in U.S."

Horn said the German automaker's U.S. sales were down last year but started to climb in the final months of the year with the arrival of new models. He added the Golf, VW's top-selling model, also represents "the DNA of the brand" as well as its strategy for design, technology and marketing.

It has received several other awards, including the Motor Trend Car of the Year.

General Motors' Chevrolet brand swept the awards last year with wins for the Chevrolet Corvette Stingray and Silverado.

This is the 22nd year for the awards, and vehicles must be all new or substantially changed for eligibility. Organizers accept no advertising, though carmakers try to capitalize on the marketing value of the honors.

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Follow Jeff Karoub on Twitter at https://twitter.com/jeffkaroub

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Follow Tom Krisher on Twitter at https://twitter.com/tkrisher

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Kaiser's 2,600 mental health workers to strike in California

SAN FRANCISCO — Hundreds of Kaiser Permanente's mental health professionals plan to start a weeklong strike throughout California on Monday to protest what they say is a lack of staffing that affects care.

The health care provider's 2,600 psychologists, therapists and social workers will walk out to demand that Kaiser Permanente offer timely, quality mental health care at its psychiatry departments and clinics, said Jim Clifford, a union member and San Diego psychiatric therapist.

Clifford said some patients have to wait up to two months for follow-up appointments, which prolongs the recovery process.

"Kaiser purports to be the leader in health care, but it's continuing the history of discrimination against the mentally ill, and that's unacceptable to us," said Clifford, who has been with Kaiser for 13 years.

The mental health workers are represented by the National Union of Healthcare Workers, which has been unable to reach a contract agreement with Kaiser since the union formed five years ago.

John Nelson, Kaiser's vice president of government relations, denied there is a shortage of mental health staff. He said the health plan has increased staffing statewide by 25 percent in the past three years, while membership grew by 8 percent during the same period.

He said the false claims are part of the union's bargaining tactic.

"They think that attacking Kaiser Permanente's reputation will get them a better contract," Nelson said. "It's frustrating, it's disappointing, but it's their strategy."

He said that appointments are being rescheduled and that during the strike, psychiatrists on staff will treat patients in crisis or with an emergency.

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Obama seeks laws on data hacking, student privacy

WASHINGTON — President Barack Obama wants Congress to pass legislation requiring companies to inform customers within 30 days if their data has been hacked, a move that follows high-profile breaches at retailers including Target, Home Depot and Neiman Marcus.

A White House official said Obama will announce the proposed legislation Monday, along with a measure aimed at preventing companies from selling student data to third parties and from using information collected in school to engage in targeted advertising.

Obama's proposals are part of a White House effort to preview components of the president's State of the Union address in the lead-up to the Jan. 20 speech. The official, who insisted on anonymity, was not authorized to discuss the proposed legislation by name ahead of Obama's speech at the Federal Trade Commission.

If passed by Congress, the Personal Data Notification and Protection Act would require U.S. companies to notify customers within 30 days of their personal information being compromised. Recent hackings have exposed the lack of uniform practices for alerting customers in the event of a breach.

The legislation would also make it a crime to sell customers' identities overseas.

Obama's proposals also follow last month's hacking at Sony Pictures Entertainment. The White House has blamed the cyber attack on North Korea and responded with new sanctions against the isolated nation.

In addition to the customer notification legislation, Obama will also ask lawmakers to pass the Student Digital Privacy Act. The measure would prohibit companies from selling student data to third parties, a move spurred by the increased use of technology in schools that can scoop up personal information.

The White House official said the proposed bill is based on a California statute pushed by Common Sense Media, a group that promotes privacy. The organization said the proliferation of online platforms, mobile applications, cloud computing and other technology allows businesses to collect sensitive data about students including contact information, academic records, and even what students eat for lunch or whether they ride the bus to school.

"We applaud President Obama for standing up for school children, who deserve the opportunity to use educational websites and apps to enrich their learning without fear that their personal information will be exploited for commercial purposes or fall into the wrong hands," Common Sense Media CEO James Steyer said in a statement.

The Center for Democracy & Technology also said it supports Obama's moves to protect the data, while pointing out that his administration still uses electronic surveillance for national security purposes.

"Even with these proposed reforms, we must not forget about government surveillance reform," said Nuala O'Connor, the group's president. "Without the end to the mass surveillance practices of the U.S. government, any privacy reform is woefully incomplete."

It's unclear whether the new Republican-led Congress will take up either of Obama's legislative proposals.

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