Euro Watch: Stocks Slip In Europe And Asia

Best Buy is planning to cut $50 off the iPhone in a four week promotion that kicks off on Sunday. The price cut applies to the purchase of the iPhone 4, iPhone 4S and iPhone 5 in conjunction with a two-year contract with Verizon, AT&T or Sprint. The company is also doing some shorter term promotions over memorial day, cutting the price on several popular, but older Android models. From May 26 to June 1, Best Buy is selling Samsung’s Galaxy S III for $49 on AT&T or Sprint, a $50 price cut. Meanwhile it is offering the HTC Droid DNA for Verizon for $49 ($150 savings) and the HTC One X on AT&T for free (a $100 price cut.) The moves come as Samsung’s new Galaxy S4 is now available for a variety of carriers and with Apple’s iPhones getting a bit longer in the tooth. Discounts on the iPhone are infrequent, but not unheard of, particularly in the weeks and months leading up to a new model.

Months after preparing to use eminent domain to force Rayonier Inc. to sell it 114 acres, the city of Macclenny is being offered a different site. Jacksonville-based Rayonier made the offer in hopes the city would abandon its lawsuit to force the timber giant to sell a previous site for a waste disposal site, the Baker County Press reports. “On the surface it looks good,” Mr. Rhoden told city commissioners during a board meeting on May 14 when he presented an update on the ongoing dispute with…

John King, New York’s commissioner of education, stands behind the state’s new Common Core initiative. The standards, adopted by almost every state, have the goal of raising academic standards and graduation requirements. The standards have also raised concerns among some educators and parents. They say that neither students nor teachers are prepared for the tests because they include material that has not been taught. King and other state ed officials acknowledge that student scores may be…

A December trial date has been set in a tax dispute that pits controversial dietary supplement maker Star Scientific Inc. against the state of Virginia, the first sign of movement in the case in more than 18 months, The Washington Post reported. A Mecklenburg County judge will hear arguments in December over a tax bill contested by Virginia-based Star.

They are concerned about unexpected consequences of the new law — problems that could jeopardize the health benefits offered to millions of their members.