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BANGKOK (AP) — The price of oil rose Wednesday, before the conclusion of a U.S. Federal Reserve meeting. Benchmark oil for July delivery rose 48 cents to $98.92 per barrel at late afternoon Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract rose 67 cents to close at $98.44 a barrel on the Nymex on Tuesday. To help support the U.S. economic recovery, the Fed has been buying $85 billion in bonds every month in an attempt to keep long-term interest rates low and encourage lending. The new money generated has flowed into the financial system, helping many assets, including oil, to climb from the lows witnessed during the global recession following the 2008-2009 financial crisis.

SEATTLE (AP) — A Boeing 787 flying from Denver to Tokyo diverted to Seattle because of an oil filter issue, a United Airlines spokeswoman said. An airline maintenance team was inspecting the jet after Flight 139 landed normally Tuesday afternoon at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, United spokeswoman Mary Ryan said in an email statement. United just put its 787s back in the air May 20 after smoldering batteries on two 787s owned by other airlines prompted authorities to ground the planes in January. The Tokyo-bound jet's problem was "completely unrelated to any battery issues," Boeing spokesman Kate Bergman told The Seattle Times on Tuesday evening. "We are aware of the situation, and we're working with Unit

MADRID (AP) — The International Monetary Fund says recession-wracked Spain is making progress but is urging policymakers both within the country and in Europe to take "urgent action" to slash the country's crippling 27 percent unemployment rate. An IMF report released Wednesday praised Spain's reforms for stabilizing the economy, particularly its public finances, but said unemployment was "unacceptably high and the outlook difficult." Spain has been in recession for most of the past four years following the collapse of its once-booming real estate sector in 2008. Concerns over its public finances have also piled the pressure on the government to rein in spending. The IMF predicted Spain's economy would see growth late

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — An environmental group paid $1.4 million for a conservation easement at the start of one of Zion National Park's most popular trails. Many hikers on the Zion Narrows Trail start two miles east of the park, on a private ranch. They follow the North Fork of the Virgin River as it drops into Zion National Park. By buying development rights to the 258-acre Chamberlain Ranch, The Trust for Public Land says it prevented a plan to subdivide the ranch into smaller home sites. The Trust used money from the federal Natural Resource Conservation Service's Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program, the New Venture Fund and the Utah Division of State Parks and Recreation Non-Motorized Trail Matching Fund Progra

DENVER (AP) — Bob and Barbara Schmidt dashed to their home on a dirt road in a heavily wooded area northeast of Colorado Springs as smoke from what would become the most destructive wildfire in Colorado history filled the air. After quickly grabbing a few items, they spotted their neighbors. "They were sitting on their porch, watching TV," said Bob Schmidt, adding his wife urged their neighbors to immediately flee as smoke rolled in at 4:35 p.m. on June 11. "They said they'd leave when they needed to." Marc and Robin Herklotz told the Schmidts they hadn't gotten automated calls from authorities ordering them to evacuate and that, while they were packing and monitoring the approaching blaze on TV, they weren't panickin

BEIRUT (AP) — Syrian state television says an accidental explosion at a military depot outside the northwestern coastal city of Latakia has left six people lightly injured. It says a "technical error" caused the Wednesday explosion at a military corps of engineers unit. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a number of activists on the ground, said at least 13 soldiers were injured. The Observatory said smoke was rising from the depot, on the southern edge of the city. Latakia activists on Facebook also reported the arrival of ambulances and helicopters after the explosion. Latakia province is a regime stronghold, where the population is predominantly members of President Bashar Assad'

UNIVERSAL CITY, Calif. (AP) — Cher is no stranger to tabloid fodder. The 67-year-old singer who has spent most of her life in the spotlight offered this advice to young artists on navigating the world of paparazzi attention: "You're screwed. That's my advice." "You don't deal with it. You just try to get a place where no one can find you and that's your little sanctuary," continued the "Believe" singer in an interview Tuesday. "I have a fabulous house that I love and it's my sanctuary." Looking ever the rock star in leather and studs, Cher took the stage Tuesday for the season finale of NBC's "The Voice." She performed "Woman's World," the first single off her upcoming album of the same name — her 26th album since s

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — American musical legend Bob Dylan is bringing his act back home, but first he needs a little help from St. Paul city leaders. Dylan is set to perform at Midway Stadium in July as part of his "Americanarama" tour of minor league ballparks. An official with the St. Paul Saints has a variance pending before the city council for an outdoor concert noise waiver. It is to be decided at a hearing Wednesday evening. The application is considered routine but is necessary because the amplified sound will echo through the air late into to the night, requiring city signoff and notification of neighbors. Dylan's performance won't be far from Dinkytown, where he spent his college days. The musician was born i

CONCORD, N.H. (AP) — Time is running out for House and Senate budget negotiators to reach accord on a spending plan for New Hampshire for the two years starting July 1. The deadline to sign off on a compromise is noon Thursday. The Democratic-led House negotiating team and Republican-led Senate team have been meeting since Friday to find common ground mostly on how to pay for spending and on whether to expand Medicaid to an estimated 58,000 poor adults. On Tuesday, the House proposed expanding Medicaid for three years instead of indefinitely. That is how long the federal government will pay 100 percent of the costs.

PARIS (AP) — Heavy floods in southwest France have forced the closure of the Catholic pilgrimage site in Lourdes and the evacuation of pilgrims from nearby hotels. Floodwaters swirled Wednesday in the grotto where nearly 6 million believers from around the world, many gravely ill, come every year seeking miracles and healing. It has been a major pilgrimage site since a French girl's vision of the Virgin Mary there in 1858. Lourdes Mayor Jean-Pierre Artiganave said on BFM television that the site will not reopen until safety can be assured. Rescue services are evacuating hundreds of people from nearby hotels. Heavy rains around the region inundated town centers and prompted road closures. The interior minister is headi

ANKARA, Turkey (AP) — The new form of resistance that is spreading through Turkey has received a nod of approval from the country's deputy prime minister. Bulent Arinc told reporters Wednesday that the protest by hundreds of people standing motionless for hours in streets and squares were peaceful and "pleasing to the eye." He urged protesters, however, not to obstruct traffic and not to endanger their health. It was the first government comment on the passive protest that was started by a lone protester who stood still for some eight hours on Istanbul's Taksim Square on Monday. A police crackdown that began May 31 against environmentalists and other activists in Taksim Square set off more than two-weeks of anti-gover

MILAN (AP) — The former head of the Italian aerospace and defense giant Finmeccanica goes on trial in a case involving alleged bribes to win a 560 million euro ($670 million) helicopter contract in India. Giuseppe Orsi, who resigned in February, faces corruption charges in a case that has tarnished the state-controlled company. Also on trial is Bruno Spagnolini, CEO of AgustaWestland, the defense contractor's helicopter division. The accelerated trial opened Wednesday in Busto Arsizio north of Milan after a judge decided there was enough evidence to proceed without a preliminary hearing. Orsi has denied wrongdoing, while Spagnolini has not commented. Both Finmeccanica and AgustaWestland deny wrongdoing.

LONDON (AP) — British bankers could soon be facing harsher penalties for behaving badly. After a year which has seen major scandals involving rate-rigging, money-laundering and rogue-trading rock the UK's financial industry, an influential parliamentary committee recommended Wednesday that senior bankers should be held more accountable for their bank's actions. One measure, it said, should be a new criminal offense of "reckless misconduct" — one that could carry a prison sentence. "The health and reputation of the banking industry itself is at stake," Andrew Tyrie, the chairman of the parliamentary commission on banking standards said in a statement. "Many junior staff who may have done nothing wrong have been impug

MIAMI (AP) — The Miami Heat were so close to elimination from the NBA championships that the team noticed officials bringing yellow tape out to block off the court for the Spurs' trophy presentation. But a couple of big 3-pointers later and powered by LeBron James' fourth-quarter surge, the defending champions stayed alive, edging San Antonio 103-100 in overtime. Game 7 is in Miami on Thursday, the NBA's first do-or-die game to determine its champion since the Lakers beat the Celtics in 2010.

BERLIN (AP) — Five years and 50 years. As President Barack Obama revisits Berlin, he can't escape those anniversaries and the inevitable comparisons to history and personal achievement. With his own 2008 speech at Berlin's Victory Column and former President John F. Kennedy's 1963 historic denunciation of the Soviet bloc as markers, Obama will use an address at the city's Brandenburg Gate on Wednesday to renew his call to reduce the world's nuclear stockpiles. The White House said Obama will draw attention to his plan for a one-third reduction in U.S. and Russian arsenals, rekindling a goal that was a centerpiece of his early first-term national security agenda.

The sly smile on Erik Spoelstra's lips said it all. If only this once, the Miami coach couldn't wait to field questions. This was just minutes after a magical Game 6, when the memories of how his Heat defied the longest of odds to steal a win in overtime were still fresh: Down five points with just under 30 seconds left in regulation, against a San Antonio team and a coach, Gregg Popovich, who never lose their composure or cool. The championship trophy was on a platform being rolled toward the court, yellow tape stretched on either side of its path, clearing a route through a fast-departing home crowd determined to flee rather than watch the hardware be handed to the Spurs.

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Swedish fashion retailer Hennes & Mauritz AB on Wednesday said profits fell by 11 percent in the second quarter due to the strong Swedish krona and increased markdowns as it tried to shift its products. The company said its net profit for the March-May period dropped to 4.66 billion kronor ($720 million) from 5.22 billion a year earlier. Sales for the quarter slipped marginally to 31.64 billion kronor from 31.66 billion. H&M CEO Karl-Johan Persson said the krona's strength weighed on the result, while sales in local currencies increased by 5 percent.

GENEVA (AP) — The Syrian civil war contributed to pushing the numbers of refugees and those displaced by conflict within their own nation to an 18-year high of 45.2 million worldwide by the end of 2012, the U.N. refugee agency said Wednesday. Those are the highest numbers since 1994, when people fled genocide in Rwanda and bloodshed in former Yugoslavia. By the end of last year, the world had 15.4 million refugees, 937,000 asylum seekers and 28.8 million people who had been forced to flee within the borders of their own countries, the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees said in a report. Of those, 17 percent were new to their situations in 2012: 1.1 million new refugees and 6.5 million new inte

LE BOURGET, France (AP) — Boeing Co. says it is selling 30 of its new generation 737-MAX 8 jets, extending the popularity of the fuel-efficient short-haul aircraft at the Paris Air Show. The 737-MAX 8 planes have a list price of $100.5 million, although most customers negotiate steep discounts. Aircraft leasing company CIT Aerospace, which placed the order Wednesday, is responsible for a fleet of 350 aircraft, including 128 Boeing jets, according to the company. Smaller jet purchases have made up the bulk of the orders this year as airlines renew their fleets or expand into new markets, notably in Asia and Latin America. The 737 carries between 150 and 200 passengers and is Boeing's most popular model. First deliverie

LONDON (AP) — A year ago, Julian Assange skipped out on a date with Swedish justice. Rather than comply with a British order that he go to the Scandinavian country for questioning about sex crimes allegations, the WikiLeaks founder took refuge in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London. He's still there — and now says he won't emerge even if Sweden drops the case that triggered the strange diplomatic standoff. In comments that appear to put a resolution farther off than ever, Assange said his fear of U.S.-ordered arrest for his secret-spilling activities means that "if the Swedish government immediately drops their request tomorrow, I still cannot leave this embassy.