Hines Nurseries To Lay Off 160 In Richmond

News Summary: German business confidence rises Associated Press Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Published 11:37 am, Friday, May 24, 2013 FEELING GOOD: German business confidence rebounded this month in an unexpectedly strong showing that sends a hopeful signal for more robust growth in Europe's biggest economy. BETTER THAN EXPECTED: The closely watched confidence index rose to 105.7 points for May from 104.4 last month. The upturn followed two consecutive declines and beat economists' expectations of a very slight increase to 104.5. LOOKING AHEAD: The Ifo think tank said the improvement in its survey was fueled by companies' brighter view of their current situation, while their outlook for the next six months remained unchanged.

More bad news for some embattled gold miners.  On Friday, Barrick Gold was halted around noon in New York as reports surfaced indicating the Chilean government had forced the company to “paralyze” its operations in Pascua Lima, one of the largest gold and silver resources in the world into which Barrick has poured nearly $5 billion in.  Silver Wheaton, a joint-venture partner in the project, was halted a few minutes later.

The Department of Justice's claim that Apple led a conspiracy to raise e-book prices is on the verge of going to trial. It will be decided by a judge without the help of a jury—and that judge is already leaning toward ruling against Apple. "I believe that the government will be able to show at trial direct evidence that Apple knowingly participated in and facilitated a conspiracy to raise prices of e-books, and that the circumstantial evidence in this case, including the terms of the agreements [between Apple and publishers], will confirm that," US District Judge Denise Cote said during a pretrial hearing yesterday, according to Reuters. The US government accuses Apple of being the "ringmaster" in a conspiracy with e-book publishers to fix the standard prices of e-books at $12.99 and $14.99, above Amazon's typical rate of $9.99. Book publishers HarperCollins, Hachette, Simon & Schuster, Macmillan, and Penguin have already settled and promised to repay consumers a total of $164 million. Read 3 remaining paragraphs | Comments

If you're involved in Bitcoin, you have no doubt been asked the question "So, who accepts bitcoin?" True, it is the quintessential chicken and egg paradox, but that is not unexpected for the world's first decentralized cryptocurrency lacking a political authority.

"Dr. Beach" is out with his 23rd annual list of the best beaches in America. Last year's winner, Coronado Beach in San Diego, has lost its top spot. In fact, it didn't even make the top 10 this year. Dr. Beach, better known as Dr. Stephen P. Leatherman, is a coastal expert and professor at Florida International University. He ranks the beaches on 50 criteria including the local scene, sand quality, water quality, smell, and environmental management.#10 Beachwalker Park, Kiawah Island, SC #9 Coast Guard Beach, Cape Cod, MA #8 Cape Hatteras, Outer Banks, NC See the rest of the story at Business Insider Please follow The Life on Twitter and Facebook.