Visa stays as FIFA sponsor for 2 more World Cups

ZURICH — FIFA says Visa has extended its World Cup sponsorship deal through the 2018 and 2022 tournaments.

The value of the deal was not disclosed.

FIFA President Sepp Blatter says "we are delighted to have such a strong global brand by our side until at least 2022."

Visa signed as a top-tier World Cup sponsor in 2007 following a controversial legal suit brought by FIFA's former financial services partner Mastercard.

FIFA paid more than $90 million to settle that case after a New York judge criticized the governing body for breaching Mastercard's exclusive negotiating rights.

FIFA marketing director Thierry Weil says "Mastercard did not come to us and declare an interest to be part of the World Cup 2018 and '22."

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Boeing confirms new 787 battery incident

Battery problems resurfaced on Boeing's 787 on Tuesday, after gas was discovered coming out of a battery on a plane parked in Tokyo.

Boeing said the problem on a Japan Airlines 787 was discovered during scheduled maintenance. No passengers were on board. The company said it appears that a single battery cell "vented," or released gas.

The incident comes a year after a fire in a lithium ion battery aboard a Japan Airlines 787 parked at Boston's Logan International Airport. That was followed nine days later by another battery incident that forced an emergency landing in Japan by an All Nippon Airways 787.

Those problems prompted the FAA and other authorities to ground all 787s for more than three months. The planes began flying again after Boeing changed the battery system, adding a tougher box to hold the battery and measures to contain any short-circuit or fire.

Boeing said those changes appear to have worked as designed in the battery incident on Tuesday. It said it's working with Japan Airlines to get the plane flying again.

Because the incident happened in Japan and involved a Japanese airline, Japanese authorities would take the lead in any investigation. If the Japan Transport Safety Board opens an investigation, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board "would certainly participate," NTSB spokesman Peter Knudson said.

The NTSB expects to finish its investigation of the 787 fire in Boston by the end of March, and present findings at a public meeting this fall.

"Anything we can learn about the (latest) battery failure would be helpful" to the ongoing investigation, Knudson said.

Representatives for Japan Airlines did not respond to requests for comment.

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AP transportation reporter Joan Lowy in Washington contributed to this report.

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Mass. holiday sales fall short of forecast

BOSTON — An organization representing retailers says holiday sales in Massachusetts fell short of the group's earlier forecast and lagged behind national results.

The Retailers Association of Massachusetts said Tuesday that a member survey showed retail sales for November and December increased two percent over the same period in the previous year.

The association, which had forecast a 3.5 percent increase in sales, said a strong month of November apparently did not carry over into December.

The National Retail Federation said holiday sales nationally rose 3.8 percent over the prior year. The head of the Massachusetts retailers group, Jon Hurst, noted that the national report included more Internet sales and was more heavily weighted by large national chains than was the state results.

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GM global sales hit 9.7M last year, beats VW

DETROIT — General Motors sold 9.71 million cars and trucks last year, probably not enough to beat out Toyota for the global sales crown, but about 200,000 better than Volkswagen.

Toyota, the sales champion in 2012, will report its sales next week. It only needs to show a little growth to beat GM again.

GM said Tuesday that sales of light vehicles worldwide grew 4 percent in 2013, led by growth in China and the United Kingdom. The company's sales in China rose 11 percent to set a record. U.S. sales were up 7 percent, slightly below the market's growth of nearly 8 percent.

Volkswagen said Monday that it sold 9.5 million light vehicles last year, setting a company record for overall sales.

Toyota sold roughly 9.7 million cars and trucks in 2012, recapturing the lead it ceded to GM in 2011.

GM was the top-selling carmaker for more than seven decades before losing the title to Toyota in 2008. But GM retook the sales crown in 2011 when Toyota's factories were slowed by an earthquake and tsunami in Japan. The disaster left Toyota dealers with few cars to sell. The Japanese company has since recovered.

Both companies say publicly that they don't care about who wins, but concede that the crown is an important morale booster for employees.

Toyota's global sales for the first nine months of the year reached 7.41 million vehicles, little changed from the previous year but outpacing General Motors to keep its lead over GM. Detroit-based GM sold 7.25 million vehicles from January through September.

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US correspondent barred from entering Russia

MOSCOW — Russia said Tuesday it has barred a journalist for U.S.-funded Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty from the country for five years over a visa infraction, a charge rejected by the veteran American journalist, who described it as "bureaucratic trickery" to keep him out of the country.

The barring of David Satter, who has written several books about Russia, appears to reflect the Kremlin's nervousness about critical opinion before next month's Winter Olympics in Sochi.

Satter has been strongly critical of the games, which Vladimir Putin has made a priority of his presidency. In a recent commentary posted on CNN's website, Satter criticized the International Olympic Committee's "irresponsibility" in choosing Sochi and warned that it could lead to "one of the greatest catastrophes in the history of the Olympics."

Satter began working in September for RFE/RL, which is funded by the U.S. Congress to support human rights, democracy and other U.S. priorities.

Marie Harf, deputy spokeswoman of the U.S. State Department, said Tuesday the U.S. is disappointed that Russian authorities denied a visa to Satter and is monitoring his case.

"The U.S. Embassy in Moscow has raised our concerns on this case and the treatment of journalists and media organizations in general with Russian authorities. As we've said many times before, hindering the free flow of information undermines the kind of open environment for free debate and discussion that supports innovation and dynamisms," said Harf.

The Russian Foreign Ministry said the U.S. journalist had not applied for an extension of his visa within the prescribed time. Satter argued that the case was bureaucratic obfuscation, and RFE/RL President Kevin Klose said in a statement that barring Satter from entering Russia was a "fundamental violation of the right of free speech."

Satter insisted that the ministry had promised him a new visa, but failed to provide a letter of support on time, causing the migration agency to declare him in violation of visa rules. Satter left Russia on Dec. 4 on a court order and tried to obtain a new visa in Ukraine, but he said a Russian diplomat there read him a statement on Dec. 25 saying that Russian "competent organs" considered his presence in the country "undesirable."

Satter, speaking from London, said the Russian explanation "is a case of just bureaucratic trickery."

Klose said the U.S. Embassy has lodged a protest with the Foreign Ministry.

Satter, 66, first worked in Moscow in 1976-1982 as a correspondent of the British newspaper Financial Times, and has written extensively about the Soviet Union and Russia since then. His books include "Darkness at Dawn: the Rise of the Russian Criminal State," which focuses on the alleged role of Russian security agencies in apartment building explosions in 1999 that triggered the second war in Chechnya. An abridged Russian-language version was published recently in Moscow.

"To say that I'm not allowed on the territory of the Russian Federation at the request of the security services — this I haven't seen applied to a journalist in my entire career of writing about Russia," he said.

The expulsion of Western reporters was common during Cold War times, and the Kremlin has revived the practice in recent years. In 2011, Russia denied entry to Luke Harding, a Moscow correspondent for the London-based Guardian. In 2012, French freelance journalist Anne Nivat had her business visa canceled after she tried to gather information about opposition groups in the provinces.

Satter's expulsion will likely further strain U.S.-Russian ties, which have been hurt by disputes over Washington's missile defense plans, Russia's rights record and Ukraine, which in November ditched a pact with the European Union in exchange for a $15 billion bailout package from Russia.

Some Russian commentators criticized the government's decision to expel Satter, saying that it would only hurt the Kremlin's efforts to polish Russia's image before the Olympics.

"Whoever made this decision is a fool who has inflicted much more damage on Russia than any spy," Viktor Kremenyuk, a deputy director of the state-funded U.S.A. and Canada Institute, said in an online commentary.

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AP correspondent Deb Riechmann contributed from Washington.

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Holiday sales rise on discounts, online shopping

NEW YORK — Holiday shoppers were more than willing to spend during the holiday season, if they saw big discounts or were shopping online.

Sales rose 3.8 percent from last year for November and December combined, according to the National Retail Federation's analysis of federal figures. That was a healthy gain in a season that kept merchants worried right up until Christmas as people held off on spending.

That caution and increased online shopping made the holiday less festive at the mall. Shoppers stayed away from many traditional destinations like department stores and electronics stores.

The sales increase came in just shy of the trade group's forecast of a 3.9 percent gain. It was better than the 3.5 percent increase in 2012 and the 3.3 percent average for the past 10 years.

"It was a knock-down, drag-out battle between retailers to see who could discount the most to generate the most traffic," said Ken Perkins, president of Retail Metrics LLC, a research firm.

For retailers, those discounts came straight out of their profits. Many have cut their forecasts for the fourth quarter, and profits are expected to be the weakest since second quarter of 2009, when the economy was coming out of the Great Recession.

Perkins estimates that fourth-quarter profits will fall 0.7 percent from last year, the first decline since a 6.7 percent drop seen during the second quarter of 2009, according to his tally of 120 retailers.

January is already off to a slow start. Some stores like Express Inc. and Lululemon Athleta have said weak January sales are compounding their holiday-season woes. Express said it plans to continue heavy sales promotions, which it expects to last through the month.

"The consumer is fatigued and taking a break," Perkins said.

Retailers' fiscal year typically ends in late January or early February to include the pre-Christmas and post-Christmas seasons. A lot is at stake. November and December account for 20 percent of the retail industry's annual sales, on average.

Jack Kleinhenz, economist at the National Retail Federation, agrees that the holiday season was challenging.

"It ended on a solid pace, but it was tempered by consumers' selectivity and preference to discounts," he said.

The National Retail Federation's figures include online sales but exclude sales at automotive dealers, gas stations and restaurants

They're extrapolated from Commerce Department retail sales figures, which were also released Tuesday.

That report showed retail sales rose 0.2 percent in December compared with November. That followed strong gains in October and November, helped by healthy auto sales.

According to the National Retail Federation's analysis of holiday business, sales rose 3 percent in November and 4.6 percent in December from a year earlier.

The results highlight how Americans' shopping habits are changing, posing challenges for retailers in 2014.

Over the past few months, people have been buying cars and appliances, as they take advantage of lower interest rates and replace worn-out models. That has left less room to buy more discretionary items. In a stronger economy, people could do both.

Another issue for traditional retailers: shoppers' continuing shift to online shopping.

David Haskins, 32, of Greenville, N.C. did almost all his buying online this holiday, up from about half last year. He avoided department stores and bought a camera at Best Buy only because it matched an online price that was $200 cheaper.

Most of his shopping was done at Amazon.com, where he joined as a Prime member to get free shipping.

"When you are looking for something you need, you can just lay in bed and pull up a phone app," Haskins said. But he said he doesn't spend willy-nilly.

"I do a lot of research. I know exactly what I want before I make a purchase."

Haskins' shopping habits played out in the December figures.

Excluding spending on autos, gas and building supplies, retail sales rose a solid 0.7 percent in December from November. But the report shows less spending at traditional holiday outlets. Online sales grew 1.4 percent in December compared with the previous month and 14 percent from last year.

But furniture and electronic purchases fell last month. And sales at department stores fell 0.7 percent in December from November — and 3.3 percent for the full year.

For all of 2013, total retail sales rose 4.2 percent, the weakest gain in four years.

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AP Economics Writer Josh Boak contributed to this report from Washington.

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Follow Anne D'Innocenzio at http://www.Twitter.com/adinnocenzio

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Spy court judge slams proposed privacy advocate

WASHINGTON — The former chief judge of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court is slamming the idea of having a privacy advocate on the secret court. He says it's unnecessary and possibly counterproductive.

A presidential advisory panel on National Security Agency reform recommended adding such an advocate. FISA court judges now hear only from the government seeking a spying warrant.

In a letter to the Senate Intelligence Committee Tuesday, U.S. District Judge John D. Bates says appointing an independent privacy advocate to the secret surveillance court would "hamper" the court's work.

Bates also rejected the panel's recommendation that the government seek court approval every time the FBI wanted to obtain information in cases of national security, known as a national security letter.

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CBS clobbers rivals with 15 of Top 20 shows

NEW YORK — The Nielsen ratings company says football and a slate of robust comedies and dramas gave CBS a big prime-time win last week.

CBS surged with its playoff game between the Indianapolis Colts and the New England Patriots, which drew nearly 32 million viewers as the week's most-watched program. The network claimed an additional 14 of the Top 20 shows on broadcast and cable.

NBC's only entry in the Top 20 was its Golden Globe Awards telecast, which ranked third with nearly 21 million viewers.

Overall for the week, CBS won with an average of 15.2 million viewers, while runner-up NBC had 7.2 million.

The week's top-rated cable networks were ESPN, averaging 4.19 million viewers, followed by USA and History.

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US stocks move higher a day after big loss

NEW YORK — The stock market rebounded Tuesday, putting it on track for the best day of the year. Gains were led by the technology sector, which got a lift from some positive comments from analysts.

KEEPING SCORE: The Standard & Poor's 500 index climbed 19 points, or 1 percent, to 1,838 as of 3:20 p.m. Eastern time. The Dow Jones industrial average gained 102 points, or 0.6 percent, to 16,360. The Nasdaq composite rose 68 points, or 1.7 percent, to 4,181.

CABLE BID: Time Warner Cable rose $4.59, or 3.5 percent, to $136.97 after Charter Communications intensified its pursuit of the company. Charter said Monday it would bring an offer directly to shareholders if needed after getting rebuffed by Time Warner Cable's management.

TECH MOVERS: Technology companies rose 1.8 percent, the most of the 10 sectors that make up the S&P 500.

Intel climbed 96 cents, or 3.8 percent, to $26.46 after analysts at JPMorgan raised their rating on the stock and predicted that demand for PCs will stabilize this year and that the company's CEO will focus improving margins and returns.

Jabil Circuit jumped $1.24, or 7.5 percent, to $17.83 after Goldman Sachs recommended buying the stock of the electronics company, predicting that its earnings for next year could be better than most analysts are expecting.

BANK EARNINGS: Investors were watching results from two big banks. JPMorgan Chase, the nation's biggest bank by assets, rose 18 cents, or 0.3 percent, to $57.88 after reporting gains in most of its divisions except for investment banking.

Wells Fargo was flat at $45.59 after the nation's biggest mortgage lender reported a sharp drop in its mortgage business even as its bottom-line income rose 11 percent.

CONSOLIDATION, NOT CAPITULATION: Despite the slow start to the year — the S&P 500 index is down 0.7 percent in 2014 after a gain of almost 30 percent last year — many investors remain optimistic that stocks will end this year higher as well, and will come to see the current slump as a pause rather than a collapse.

"Valuations have been certainly been pushed higher, so (stocks) are no longer cheap," said Eric Wiegand, senior portfolio manager at U.S. Bank Wealth Management. "But we would contend that they are still fair."

RETAIL SALES: Investors got some encouraging news on the economy on Tuesday, as report showed that Americans spent more on clothing and online in December Retail sales rose 0.2 percent last month, the Commerce Department said Tuesday. Excluding auto sales, retail sales gained 0.7 percent, compared to a forecast of 0.4 percent.

SURGING SURGERY: Intuitive Surgical jumped $26.53, or 6.8 percent, to $419.61 after the company said it will report revenue in the fourth quarter that is higher than Wall Street analysts are forecasting, as procedures performed with its robotic da Vinci system increased.

GAMESTOPPED: GameStop plunged $9.01, or 20 percent, to $36.30 after the world's largest video game retailer gave a profit forecast that fell below Wall Street's expectations for its crucial holiday quarter, despite higher-than-expected sales.

TREASURYS AND COMMODITIES: Bond prices fell. The yield on the 10-year Treasury note rose to 2.87 percent from 2.83 percent on Monday. The price of oil climbed 79 cents, or 0.9 percent, to $92.59. Gold fell $5.70, or 0.5 percent, to $1,245.40 an ounce.

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Dozens of trade-offs in $1.1 trillion budget bill

WASHINGTON — A massive $1.1 trillion spending bill, aimed at funding the government through October and putting to rest the bitter budget battles of last year, is getting generally positive reviews from House Republicans who are eager to avoid another shutdown crisis with elections looming.

Republicans say the favorable response to the all-encompassing spending bill reflects the desire of the rank and file to avoid a repeat of the politically damaging standoffs with the White House that led to last year's 16-day partial government shutdown. The closure sent congressional approval numbers plummeting and roughed up Republicans in particular.

Since then, they have regained support amid the troubled rollout of President Barack Obama's health care law.

"The shutdown educated — particularly our younger members who weren't here during our earlier shutdown — about how futile that practice is," said House Appropriations Chairman Harold Rogers, R-Ky. "There is a real hard determination now that we will reacquire and use the power of the purse that the Congress constitutionally has been given."

Rep. Steve Womack, R-Ark., said the new legislation would get "our country off this notion of shutting the government down" and would allow Republicans to keep the spotlight on other issues, a reference to the health care law that's weighing politically on Democrats.

Tea party favorites including Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, also have been slow to criticize the spending measure, which appears likely to pass the Senate no later than Saturday and probably before then. Cruz was a key force in the strategy to shut down the government over funding of so-called Obamacare.

The spending measure contains dozens of trade-offs between Democrats and Republicans as it fleshes out the details of the budget deal that Congress passed last month. That pact gave relatively modest but much-sought relief to the Pentagon and domestic agencies after deep cuts last year.

Western Republicans from timber country were anxious about payments to towns surrounded by federal lands but were reassured that the payments would be extended though separate legislation. Gulf Coast lawmakers praised a provision aimed at delaying federal flood insurance premium increases from new flood maps that have proven faulty, but the provision left in place other changes enacted in 2012.

The GOP-led House is slated to pass the 1,582-page bill Wednesday, though some tea party conservatives are sure to oppose it.

Democrats pleased with new money to educate preschoolers and build high-priority highway projects are likely to make up the difference even as Republican social conservatives worry about losing familiar battles over abortion policy.

The bill would avert spending cuts that threatened construction of new aircraft carriers and next-generation Joint Strike Fighters. It maintains rent subsidies for the poor, awards federal civilian and military workers a 1 percent raise and beefs up security at U.S. embassies across the globe. The Obama administration would be denied money to meet its full commitments to the International Monetary Fund but get much of the money it wanted to pay for implementation of the new health care law and the 2010 overhaul of financial regulations.

"This agreement shows the American people that we can compromise, and that we can govern," said Senate Appropriations Committee Chairwoman Barbara Mikulski, D-Md. "It puts an end to shutdown, slowdown, slamdown politics."

The measure doesn't contain in-your-face victories for either side. The primary achievement was that there was an agreement in the first place after the collapse of the budget process last year, followed by the shutdown and another brush with a default on U.S. obligations. After the shutdown and debt crisis last fall, House Budget committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., and Senate Budget Committee Chairman Patty Murray, D-Wash., struck an agreement to avoid a repeat of the 5 percent cut applied to domestic agencies last year and to prevent the Pentagon from absorbing about $20 billion in new cuts on top of the ones that hit it last year.

To be sure, there is plenty for both parties to oppose in the legislation. Conservatives face a vote to finance implementation of Obama's health care overhaul and Wall Street regulations, both enacted in 2010 over solid Republican opposition. A conservative-backed initiative to block the Environmental Protection Agency from regulating greenhouse gas emissions was dumped and social conservatives failed to win new restrictions on abortion.

Democrats must accept new money for sexual abstinence education programs they often ridicule, and conservatives can take heart that overall spending for daily agency operations has been cut by $79 billion, or 7 percent, from the high-water mark established by Democrats in 2010. That cut increases to $165 billion, or 13 percent, when cuts in war funding and disaster spending are accounted for. Money for Obama's high-speed rail program would be cut off — a defeat for California Democrats — and rules restricting the sale of less efficient incandescent light bulbs would be blocked.

The Pentagon will get about $6 billion more in war funding than the $79 billion Obama requested. The additional money is helping the Pentagon deal with a cash crunch in troop readiness accounts. Including foreign aid related to overseas security operations, total war funding reaches $92 billion, a slight cut from last year.

At the same time, the bill is laced with sweeteners. One is a provision exempting disabled veterans and war widows from a pension cut enacted last month. The bill contains increases for veterans' medical care backed by both sides and fully funds the $6.7 billion budget for food aid for low-income pregnant women and their children.

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Associated Press writer Donna Cassata contributed to this report.

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