Volkswagen Passat wins car of the year award

GENEVA — The large family car Volkswagen Passat has been voted car of the year by European automotive editors at the Geneva International Motor Show.

German Volkswagen's four-door sedan beat six other finalists including Citroen's C4 Cactus, Renault's Twingo and the BMW 2-Series Active Tourer.

The Passat has an updated collision avoidance system compared to its predecessor and other new technology, including emergency driver assistance and cross-wind stabilization.

Volkwagen last won the car of the year award in 2013 with its Golf compact car.

The Passat succeeds Peugeot's compact 308, which won last year.

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Yahoo TV converts to Tumblr-based digital magazine format

Yahoo's TV news and reviews section has adopted the company's "digital magazine" format, a visually oriented design based on the Tumblr mico-blogging website.

The new Yahoo TV digital magazine is the 11th title in the format to launch since January 2014, which include destinations for technology, food, fashion and beauty coverage. Yahoo TV continues to provide daily video recaps of primetime and daytime TV on "TV in No Time" in the new design, which is supposed to marry the imagery of traditional print magazines with bite-sized stories, video and photos.

Leading up to the launch of Yahoo TV in the digital mag format, Yahoo has raided Time Inc.'s Entertainment Weekly -- which underwent a series of layoffs last year -- for editorial talent.

Josh Wolk, Yahoo's executive editor of entertainment formerly with New York magazine's Vulture website, last fall hired Kristen Baldwin as editor-in-chief of Yahoo TV; she was previously with EW for 19 years, most recently as executive editor.

Baldwin, based in New York, has since hired Ken Tucker, one of EW's founding editors and longtime critic, as TV critic; deputy editor Mandy Bierly (former EW staff writer); and Chris Harrison, former EW writer who blogs on "The Bachelor" for Yahoo TV.

"We have a great team for Yahoo TV, and now our news and reviews will be on this more visually pleasing platform that the other magazines are on," said Baldwin, who joined Yahoo TV in September 2014.

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

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EU nations get power to ban genetically-modified crops

BRUSSELS — The European Union is giving member states the power to ban the cultivation of genetically-modified crops even if they have been approved by the bloc's food safety authority.

The 28 EU member states on Monday approved the rule that national governments can have the final say in the matter — a move that goes counter to many EU initiatives, which traditionally seek a common stance on EU policies.

Mute Schimpf of Friends of the Earth Europe says the new law "is a massive opportunity for national governments to shut the door on biotech crops in Europe."

Only one GM crop — corn — is planted in the EU so far, predominantly in Spain. Under the rules, governments would still have to consult biotech companies when banning a crop.

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Bill Gates repeats at top of Forbes' list of billionaires

NEW YORK — The world's richest person got even richer this year.

Forbes said Monday that Bill Gates's net worth rose to $79.2 billion in 2015 from $76 billion last year. That put him at the top of the magazine's list of the world's billionaires for the second consecutive year. The co-founder of Microsoft Corp. has topped the list for 16 of the last 21 years.

In second place is Mexican telecommunications mogul Carlos Slim Helu, with a net worth of $77.1 billion. He had topped the list in 2013.

Next is investor Warren Buffett, who moved up one slot this year with a net worth of $72.7 billion. In fourth place was Amancio Ortega, the Spanish co-founder of clothing retail chain Zara, with a net worth of $64.5 billion. Rounding out the top five was Larry Ellison, founder of technology company Oracle Corp., with $54.3 billion.

Forbes said there were 1,826 billionaires on its list this year, up from 1,645 in 2014. Added together, they were worth a combined $7.05 trillion, up from $6.4 trillion last year.

Most of the those on the list were men. But there were 197 women, up from 172 a year ago. The highest-ranking woman was Christy Walton, the widow of John Walton, a son of the founder of Wal-Mart Stores Inc. She has a net worth of $41.7 billion, according to Forbes.

The world's youngest billionaire was 24-year-old Evan Spiegel, the CEO and co-founder of mobile messaging company Snapchat, with a net worth of $1.5 billion. Snapchat's other co-founder, 25-year-old Bobby Murphy, had the same net worth as Spiegel. Other tech billionaire newcomers were two co-founders of taxi-ordering app Uber and one of its executives. Three co-founders of Airbnb, the vacation-home rental website, also made the list.

Basketball legend Michael Jordan joined the list for the first time this year, thanks to his ownership in basketball team Charlotte Hornets and payouts form his Nike brand. Jordan had a net worth of $1 billion, the magazine said.

This is the the 29th year that Forbes has released its billionaires list. The magazine said it calculated each person's wealth based on stock prices and exchange rates on Feb. 13, 2015.

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Supreme Court won't hear appeal in foam class action case

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court won't hear an appeal from a group of flexible foam manufacturers challenging one of the largest class action lawsuits ever certified.

The justices on Monday let stand a lower court ruling that allowed a lawsuit to go forward that seeks more than $9 billion in damages against Carpenter Co., Woodbridge Foam Corp. and others.

Buyers of flexible foam products including seat cushions, foam pillows and mattresses allege the manufacturers were involved in a decades-long conspiracy to fix the price of polyurethane foam.

The companies claim there is not enough in common between various purchasers of the foam products to allow a class action to proceed. The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected that argument.

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US stocks open slightly higher; Freescale jumps on deal

NEW YORK — The U.S. stock market headed higher Monday as deals and economic news gave stocks a lift.

KEEPING SCORE: The Dow Jones industrial average rose 95 points, or 0.5 percent, to 18,228 as of 10:10 a.m. Monday.

The Standard & Poor's 500 index rose six points, or 0.3 percent, to 2,111, while the Nasdaq composite edged up 28 points, or 0.6 percent, to 4,991.

CHIPPY: NXP Semiconductors said Sunday it's planning to acquire Freescale Semiconductor in an $11.8 billion deal. The merger would create the largest supplier of microchips for cars. Boards of both companies have already approved the deal, but regulators still need to sign off on it. NXP's stock jumped $11.52, or 14 percent, to $96.40. Freescale soared $3.34, or 10 percent, to $39.45.

MERGER MONDAY: Hewlett-Packard announced an agreement to buy Aruba Networks, a company that makes Wi-Fi systems for shopping malls and hotels, for $2.7 billion. It's the biggest deal for HP since Meg Whitman, its CEO, launched an effort to turn around the company. HP's stock edged up 5 cents, or 0.1 percent, to $34.90. Aruba fell 41 cents, or 2 percent, to $24.40.

SPENDING: The government reported Monday that consumer spending dipped slightly in January, while income rose, reflecting strong job gains during the month. Economists had expected a dip in spending, reflecting a big drop in gas prices during the month. That decline could turn out to be a good sign for economic growth, as it gives people more money to spend on other goods.

SOLID MONTH: Last week, the stock market closed out its best monthly gain in more than three years. The S&P 500 climbed 5.5 percent, its strongest gain since October 2011, bouncing back from a January slump. The Dow surged 5.6 percent. Consumer companies and technology firms had the strongest gains.

EUROPE: Germany's DAX slipped 0.3 percent, and France's CAC 40 sank 1 percent. Britain's FTSE 100 shed 0.3 percent.

ECONOMICS WATCH: Market sentiment in Europe did not hold up despite reports showing unemployment in the 19-country eurozone fell last month to its lowest since 2012 and that consumer prices were not dropping as sharply in February as in January. The figures are welcome news, but still show the currency union has a long way yet to improve. The European Central Bank is due to start its bond-buying stimulus program this month.

CHINA RATE CUT: The People's Bank of China cut interest rates for the second time in three months Saturday, reducing the rate for one-year loans by commercial banks by 0.25 percentage point to 5.35 percent. The interest rate paid on a one-year deposit was lowered by 0.25 point to 2.50 percent. The latest round of cuts follow tax reductions and other measures meant to prop up growth. The government cut business taxes last week and has announced a pay hike for civil servants.

ASIA'S DAY: Japan's Nikkei 225 gained 0.2 percent, and South Korea's Kospi added 0.6 percent. In China, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rose 0.3 percent, while the Shanghai Composite Index advanced 0.8 percent.

ENERGY: Benchmark U.S. crude oil rose 17 cents to $49.92 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. It gained $1.59 on Friday to $49.76 a barrel.

CURRENCIES: The dollar rose to 119.72 yen from 119.63 late Friday. The euro gained to $1.1229 from $1.1199.

BONDS: Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.03 percent from 2 percent late Friday.

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Costco strikes credit card deal with Citi, Visa

NEW YORK — Costco says it struck a deal for Citi to be the exclusive issuer of its co-branded credit cards, with Visa replacing American Express as the card network.

The deal is subject to Citi buying the company's co-branded credit card portfolio, Costco said.

Costco and American Express ended their partnership after failing to reach an agreement on renewal terms. American Express said earlier this month that the relationship, which goes back 16 years, is set to expire March 31, 2016. Costco says the deal with Visa and Citigroup Inc. would take effect the next day.

The company said it would provide its customers with information about the transition in coming months.

Costco Wholesale Corp., based in Issaquah, Washington, has 474 locations in the United States and 88 in Canada.

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Labor disputes disrupt SAS, Norwegian flights in Scandinavia

HELSINKI — Scandinavian Airlines says some 50 flights have been canceled Monday to and from Denmark after members of a Danish cabin crew union walked out to protest the carrier's plan to transfer employees to a domestic airline acquired by SAS.

Group spokesman Henrik Edstrom said the action, involving flights within Scandinavia, brings the number of cancellations to more than 100 since the pilots began their protest on Friday.

Meanwhile in Norway, flights by a subsidiary of low-cost airline Norwegian Air Shuttle — Norwegian Air Norway — were partly disrupted after pilots continued a walkout begun on Saturday, causing the company's share price to crash 5 percent in Oslo.

Officials at Norwegian did not immediately return calls or answer emails seeking more details.

Talks to solve both disputes are continuing.

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HP's big deal: Tech giant buys Aruba Networks for $2.7B

SAN FRANCISCO — Hewlett-Packard is buying wireless networking company Aruba Networks for about $2.7 billion, the biggest acquisition by HP in recent years.

Palo Alto, Calif.-based HP said the deal will boost its commercial technology business as it prepares to split into two companies, one focused on selling commercial computer systems and the other selling personal computers and printers.

Aruba, based in Sunnyvale, Calif., makes wi-fi networking systems for shopping malls, corporate campuses, hotels and universities.

HP is paying $24.67 in cash for each Aruba share. That is slightly below its close of $24.81 on Friday.

The deal announced Monday is HP's biggest since CEO Meg Whitman launched a turnaround effort aimed at reorganizing in the face of declining revenue.

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US manufacturing slows as output and hiring weaken

WASHINGTON — U.S. factories expanded last month at their weakest pace in a year, with orders, hiring and production all growing more slowly.

The Institute for Supply Management, a trade group of purchasing managers, said Monday that its manufacturing index slipped to 52.9 in February from 53.5 in January. It was the fourth straight drop and the lowest reading since January 2014. Still, any reading above 50 signals expansion.

Measures of production and employment fell sharply, though they remained in expansionary territory. That suggests that factories are still adding jobs but at a slower pace than in January.

U.S. manufacturers have been held back in recent months by weak growth in China, Europe and Japan. That's been partly offset by strong consumer demand in the United States.

Overall, factory growth is still boosting the U.S. economy, but at a more sluggish pace than it did last year. The ISM's index reached a three-year high of 58.1 in August.

Overseas demand has now contracted for two months. A measure of export orders dropped to 48.5 in February from 49.5 in January.

A strengthening dollar, which makes U.S. exports more expensive overseas, has also been a drag. The trade deficit — the amount by which the value of U.S. imports exceeds that of exports — widened in the October-December quarter. The deficit subtracted 1.1 percentage points from the economy's growth rate for the quarter.

The stronger dollar is also squeezing U.S. multinational corporations' overseas profits.

Another drag has come from U.S. businesses, which are investing less in industrial machinery and other equipment. Oil drilling firms are spending less on developing new fields as the price of oil has plummeted roughly 50 percent since June. Business investment in equipment rose just 0.9 percent in the fourth quarter.

On the brighter side, lower gas prices have left Americans with more money to spend on other goods and services. Consumer spending jumped by the most in nine years in last year's fourth quarter. In January, consumer spending rose a solid 0.3 percent, after adjusting for prices, which fell last month.

More spending is keeping some factories busy. Auto sales jumped 14 percent in January from a year earlier, the best January sales in nine years. Analysts expect sales to top 17 million this year for the first time in a decade.

Greater production of consumer goods, such as furniture, computers and clothing, increased factory output in January, according to the Federal Reserve.

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