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A European Union plan to partially lift a ban on passengers carrying liquids onto planes has U.S. airport officials worried that it will create a security gap and may confuse passengers traveling to the United States.

Beginning April 29, the EU plans to allow airline passengers carrying wine, perfume and other liquids purchased at duty-free shops in airports outside Europe to take those items into airline cabins with them when they catch connecting flights at about two dozen European airports.

That means, for example, that travelers flying from Asia and Africa to European airports to connect to flights to the United States can keep liquids, aerosols and gels purchased in airport duty-free shops in their carry-on bags the entire way. The items will be screened at European airports before passengers board connecting flights.

Christopher Bidwell, Airports Council International-North America’s vice president for security and facilitation, said the effectiveness of the technologies European airports will use to screen liquids for explosives is unclear. There are several new technologies that European airports plan to use, he said, but none have undergone real world testing, only laboratory tests.

The Transportation Security Administration hasn’t said whether passengers arriving in the U.S. from Europe with liquids purchased outside the EU will be allowed to board domestic flights with those items, but that appears unlikely, Bidwell said in an interview on Friday unsecured personal loans.

He said he’s concerned passengers will become frustrated or angry if they’ve carried expensive items on board multiple flights for thousands of miles only to be told they have to dump them in order to board a domestic flight to reach their final destination.

“This issue points to why we have to focus on making aviation security more efficient,” said Geoff Freeman, executive vice president of the U.S. Travel Association, which represents hotels, restaurants and other businesses catering to travelers. “Traveling has become too much of a hassle, and that’s hampering our economic recovery.”

EU airports and some European airlines have also expressed concern about the plan.

TSA spokesman Nick Kimball provided a statement that said the agency is working with the EU on security matters. He declined to answer further questions.

Victoria Day, a spokeswoman for the Air Transport Association, which represents major U.S. airlines, said it hopes Europe and the U.S. will “harmonize requirements to appropriately accommodate security and passenger-processing considerations.”

The United States and the European Union restricted carry-on liquids, aerosols and gels to less than three ounces in 2006 after the British authorities uncovered a plot to bomb passenger planes bound for the United States using liquid explosives.

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America’s chief tax man was in nice-guy mode today, promising to loosen the screws on delinguent taxpayers.

IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman said the IRS will let taxpayers run up bigger tax bills before filing tax liens against their property.  More taxpayers will also be eligible for a the IRS “offers in compromise” program, in which the IRS sometimes settles for less than the taxpayer owes.

“I always encourage employees of the IRS to try to walk in the taxpayers’ shoes,” Schulman told reporters in a teleconference today.  He said the changes will help taxpayers get a “fresh start.”

Under the new guidelines, the IRS will usually not file tax liens until delinquent debt tops $10,000, up from $5,000 presently.

The tax collectors will also generally withdraw liens when taxpayers agree to a direct-debit intallment agreement with debts of $25,000 or less.  

A tax lien is a government claim against the taxpayer’s property.  It can effect credit reports, hurting a taxpayer’s ability to obtain loans and find jobs.

Taxpayers with incomes up to $100,000 will be allowed to submit offers in compromise.  The program will admit people who owe up to $50,000, up from the current $25,000 limit.

The IRS sometimes agrees to settle for lesser payments “once we determine that you can’t pay now and there is no prospect of you paying it in the future,” Shulman said.

Small businesses owing $25,000 or less can enter into installment payment agreements, up from the previous $10,000 limit.

Shulman said the changes will probably make no difference in the amount of taxes the government collects but might increase collections.

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President Obama on Monday will propose a 2012 federal budget that the White House says will cut deficits by $1.1 trillion over 10 years.

The president’s request calls for a mix of strategic spending to boost U.S. competitiveness and selective belt-tightening intended as a "down payment" on serious deficit reduction, according to his budget director Jacob Lew, who spoke on CNN’s "State of the Union."

Full details on the budget will be released on Monday morning.

So it’s not clear yet where all of the estimated $1.1 trillion in deficit reduction will come from, or exactly how significant a swipe it makes at long-term deficit reduction.

But one chunk — $400 billion in savings — would result from the president’s call for a five-year freeze on non-security discretionary spending.

Non-security discretionary spending only makes up about 10% of all federal spending. Deficit hawks lament that both the White House and Republicans have focused all of their attention in this area rather than address the country’s big debt drivers — spending on the entitlement programs and defense.

Nevertheless, this piece of the president’s budget is certain to generate some of the biggest outcry since it includes cuts to programs that Democrats fiercely defend, such as heating assistance to low-income people.

Lew said it was a "very difficult" budget. "We have to make tough trade-offs."

Even where the president will propose investments in areas he deems important, such as education, there would also be cutbacks, Lew said.

For instance, Obama’s budget will boost the Pell Grant program to ensure that 9 million students will be able to afford college, Lew said. But to pay for those proposals, Obama will call for eliminating the grants for summer school and limit their use to the regular school year.

He will also propose that interest on federal loans for graduate students accrue during school; currently, the interest tab doesn’t start running until after graduation.

The changes would save $9 billion in the first year, Lew told CNN’s Candy Crowley.

Lew defended the administration from turning its back on its own fiscal commission, which in December proposed $4 trillion in cuts. He listed three items that will appear in the budget that echo recommendations from the commission: a call for corporate tax reform, changes to rein in malpractice lawsuits against doctors and a freeze in pay on federal workers.

Nevertheless, such proposals will not save a significant amount of money relative to the deficits set to accrue. And from all indications, the president’s budget will not address key elements needed to control long-term spending in the major entitlement programs: Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.

Obama’s budget request is essentially a blueprint of his fiscal policy priorities — the programs he would like to fund or cut, the new investments he would make and how he would pay for it all.

Congress can accept, reject or modify the president’s budget. And Republicans may well reject much of it out of hand, since its cuts are not nearly as deep as many conservatives have been demanding.

Obama’s proposal is only the first step in a convoluted process that involves no less than 40 congressional committees, 24 subcommittees, countless hearings and a number of floor votes in the House and Senate.

If all goes well, a formal federal budget for government agencies will be in place by Oct. 1, the start of the 2012 fiscal year. Because Congress never passed a budget for fiscal year 2011, the government has been running on funding from a so-called continuing resolution, which expires on March 4. 

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Greece’s economy has been rescued from the “abyss” as austerity measures aimed at restoring order to public finances “are being implemented as planned,” the European Union and International Monetary Fund said.

“While there have been some delays and shortfalls, it should not undermine the fact that the program is broadly on track,” Poul Thomsen, head of the IMF’s Greece mission, told a news conference in Athens today. “We are ready for the second phase of the program, having successfully pulled the economy from an abyss.”

Greece’s fiscal health still requires a “broad base of structural reforms” to underpin a sustainable recovery, he said. The second phase will focus on a tax overhaul and state- asset sales that may raise as much as 50 billion euros ($68 billion) by 2015 to pay down debt, while further salary cuts and levy increases have been ruled out for the medium term, Servaas Deroose, a European Commission economist, told the briefing.

Thomsen and Deroose were in Athens for a quarterly review of Greece’s progress under a 110 billion-euro EU-IMF bailout it received last May to avert default. Approval of Greece’s efforts will ensure payment of the plan’s next installment of 15 billion euros in March. Deroose said he’s “confident” the funds will be disbursed.

Shares Advance

Shares in state-controlled banks shot up after the remarks by Deroose, who said an estimated 15 billion euros may be raised in 2011 and 2012 by selling commercial real estate and stakes in companies, both listed and unlisted. Hellenic Postbank SA gained 10.5 percent, Attica Bank SA rose 9.7 percent and Agricultural Bank of Greece SA added 13.2 percent at 4:45 p.m. in Athens. The government will complete the sale of the 110-year-old Postbank in 2011, according to a commission report released in December pay day advance.

Greece has vowed to trim the budget gap to 7.4 percent of gross domestic product in 2011 from 9.4 percent in 2010. The EU and the IMF said today the 2010 deficit was about 9.5 percent. Fallout from Greece’s crisis led to a surge in bond yields of distressed euro-area nations as investors shunned their debt.

The yield on Greece’s 10-year bond remained at a euro-area high of 11.15 percent today. The extra yield that investors demand to hold the 10-year security instead of German bunds was at 824 basis points compared with 811 basis points yesterday and a record 973.6 basis points on Jan. 7.

Austerity Moves

Prime Minister George Papandreou’s wage and pension cuts and sales-tax increases in return for the emergency loans from the EU and the IMF have contributed to a slump in demand, with Greece’s economy shrinking an estimated 4.2 percent last year. EU and IMF officials today stuck to forecasts for a 3 percent contraction this year.

Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou said earlier this month he was confident a comprehensive package from the EU would stem borrowing costs and allow Greece to return to international markets for financing this year. The country is banking on lower lending rates on the EU-IMF loans, as well as an extension of the maturities, to help assuage market fears of a Greek default.

Greece may return to markets no later than early next year, Thomsen said today, adding that external conditions aren’t “as favorable as expected.”

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Job openings in the U.S. decreased in December to the lowest level in three months, signaling a sustained labor-market recovery will take time to develop.

The number of positions waiting to be filled fell by 139,000 to 3.06 million, the fewest since September, the Labor Department said today in Washington. The number of people hired also dropped, as did the number of workers fired.

Employers added a fewer-than-forecast 36,000 jobs in January while the unemployment rate unexpectedly fell to 9 percent, the lowest level since April 2009, the Labor Department reported last week. Growth in the world’s largest economy will need to accelerate to make up for the almost 9 million jobs lost in the recent recession.

“We’re just digging ourselves out of a real big hole, and it’s going to take time,” Omair Sharif, an economist at RBS Securities Inc. in Stamford, Connecticut, said before the report. “The labor market is recovering gradually. The unemployment rate will slowly grind lower.”

Job openings decreased 4.3 percent in December, the biggest drop since May, from a revised 3.2 million in the prior month, the Labor Department report showed.

The decline was led by a 100,000 drop among professional and business services, which include accountants, computer systems experts and temporary-help agencies. Construction firms followed with 63,000 fewer openings in December.

Government agencies showed the biggest increase in help wanted, which climbed by 114,000.

Vying for Jobs

Compared with the 14.5 million Americans who were unemployed in December, today’s figures indicate there were 4.7 people vying for every opening, up from about 1.8 when the recession began in December 2007. The number of jobless fell to 13.9 million last month, pushing the unemployment rate down, the Labor Department reported Feb. 4.

Today’s report helps shed light on the dynamics behind the monthly employment figures. Private payrolls, which exclude government positions, rose by 50,000 workers in January, the Labor Department figures showed last week.

Employers took on 4.18 million workers in December, down 30,000 from the previous month, according to today’s report guaranteed pay day loans. Total firings, which exclude retirements and those who left their jobs voluntarily, decreased to 1.84 million from 1.85 million a month before.

An increase in the number of people voluntarily leaving jobs may be one sign Americans feel more confident about finding other work. About 1.99 million people quit their jobs in December, representing 48 percent of all separations. That was up from 1.75 million, or 42 percent, in December 2009.

Job Churning

In the 12 months ended in December, the economy created a net 900,000 jobs, representing about 51 million hires compared with about 50.1 million separations, today’s report showed.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke on Feb. 3 said the U.S. needs to see faster job growth for a sufficient time before policy makers can be assured the economic recovery has taken hold.

“With output growth likely to be moderate for a while and with employers reportedly still reluctant to add to their payrolls, it will be several years before the unemployment rate has returned to a more normal level,” Bernanke said in a speech at the National Press Club in Washington. “Until we see a sustained period of stronger job creation, we cannot consider the recovery to be truly established.”

Fed policy makers have signaled they will stick to their plan to keep buying as much as $600 billion in debt through June to spur growth.

Sales Positions

Lowe’s Cos., the second-biggest U.S. home-improvement retailer, plans to add 8,000 to 10,000 weekend sales positions to improve staffing at the busiest time of the week. The Mooresville, North Carolina-based chain also will cut 1,700 middle-management jobs as profit growth trails that of larger rival Home Depot Inc.

The two largest U.S. automakers are expanding. Ford Motor Corp., based in Dearborn, Michigan, plans to hire more than 7,000 workers in the next two years. Larger rival General Motors Co., based in Detroit, will add a third shift and about 750 jobs to its assembly plant in Flint, Michigan.

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Stock indexes pointed to small gains Tuesday ahead of reports on home prices and consumer confidence that are expected to show that the economy is improving.

Economists are anticipating The Conference Board will announce that consumers are feeling more confident about the economy for the third straight month. Analysts expect the index to rise to 55.8 in December. That would be an improvement over November’s 54.1, but still far below the reading of 90 that indicates a healthy economy.

Separately, Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller will issue its 20-city index of home prices for October. Prices fell in 18 of the 20 cities in September, signaling that the housing market continues to be weak.

Ahead of the opening bell, Dow Jones industrial average futures rose 9 points, or 0.1 percent, to 11,524. S&P 500 futures rose 3, or 0.2 percent, to 1,256 payday loans lenders. Nasdaq composite futures gained 4, or 0.2 percent, to 2,234.

Shares overseas were mixed. Stock indexes in Hong Kong and Japan each fell less than 1 percent. European shares posted small gains. The Euro Stoxx 50, which tracks blue chip companies in countries that use the euro, rose 0.3 percent.

Trading volumes on Wall Street are expected to be light throughout the week. Many investors have already closed their books for the year and are on vacation until January.

Stock indexes finished Monday mixed on a day marked by the remnants of a blizzard that disrupted travel in much of the Northeast. The Dow Jones industrial average slipped 0.2 percent. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq each rose about 0.1 percent.

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Rogers Communications is prepared to let customers pay to unlock their phones and go. However, it does involve a fee and you have to be at the end of your contract or have paid full freight for your phone.

Breaking a contract early, means you still get hit with a fee.

Retail sales rose for a fifth straight month in November, as the biggest jump in department store sales in two years gave the holiday shopping season a strong start.

The Commerce Department says retail sales increased 0.8 percent last month. That came after a 1.7 percent gain in October, which was propelled by a huge increase in auto sales payday loans.

Auto sales retreated a bit in November. But excluding autos, sales rose 1.2 percent _ the best showing since last March.

Department store sales jumped 2.8 percent, the strongest advance in two years.

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Asian shares were muted Monday, with most markets flat or managing small gains after China vowed over the weekend to cool surging inflation.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 stock average rose 0.1 percent to 10,222.76, and South Korea’s Kospi added less than 0.1 percent to 1,987.90. Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 climbed 0.5 percent to 4,767.90 as investors bought banking shares.

China’s leaders wrapped up an annual economic planning meeting Sunday with a pledge to control inflation while shifting the economy toward more stable, balanced growth.

The vow to keep the world’s No. 2 economy on an even keel came a day after the government reported that inflation jumped to a 28-month high in November. On Friday, China ordered banks to increase their reserves by 0.5 percent of deposits to help curb surging lending.

In New York Friday, an encouraging trade report and signs that a tax cut package would pass the Senate sent U.S. stocks to their highest levels in two years. The Dow Jones industrial average rose 40.26, or 0.4 percent, to 11,410.32.

In currencies, the euro fell to $1.3186 from $1.3226 late Friday in New York. The dollar was little changed at 83.93 yen from 83.91 yen.

Benchmark crude for January delivery was up 9 cents at $87.88 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract lost 58 cents to settle at $87.79 on Friday.

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OTTAWA — Walter Energy, Inc. is in talks to buy Western Coal Corp. in a stock-and-cash deal worth $3.3 billion, although a number of details need to be worked out before a final agreement may be reached.

Western Coal, which has formed a special committee of independent directors to review the offer, has agreed to work exclusively with Walter Energy until Dec. 1 as part of a deal to work towards a definitive agreement.

Under the non-binding proposal announced Thursday, shareholders of the Vancouver-based Western Coal would receive a combination of cash and Walter shares valued at $11.50.

Western Coal shares were up $3.38 at $10.76 on the Toronto Stock Exchange, while Walter Energy shares were down 51 cents at $94.20 (U.S.) on the New York Stock Exchange.

The transaction would include a $630-million side deal in which Florida-based Walter Energy will buy 54.5 million common shares of Western Coal, or about 19.8 per cent of the total, from Audley Capital.

Western has three mines in British Columbia, four mines in West Virginia, and one mine in Wales, while Walter Energy has operations in the southern Appalachia region of the eastern U.S. and Alabama’s Blue Creek coal region.

Western Coal said the deal would create one of the world’s largest pure-play, publicly traded metallurgical coal producers — although there are diversified mining companies that would have higher outputs.

“The combined company would have synergistic technical expertise in both open- pit and underground coal mining,” the company said in a statement.

“The combined company’s market capitalization and enhanced financial strength would position it well to execute on strategic growth plans.”

Walter Energy interim chief executive Joe Leonard said the deal would transform his company.

“The transaction would meaningfully diversify both companies’ operating and development portfolios and provide new business opportunities which might not be available to either company on a standalone basis,” Leonard said in a statement.

“The combined company would also be well positioned to participate in further strategic growth opportunities.”

Western expects to produce 6.1 million tonnes of coal for the financial year ending March 31, 2011, growing to 10 million tonnes for its 2013 financial year.

Walter Energy expects to produce 6.6 million tonnes of coal in the 2010 calendar year, growing to 8.6 million tonnes in the calendar year 2012.

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