AP Executive Morning Briefing

The top business news from The Associated Press for the morning of Friday, July 27, 2007:

Asian Investors Rattled by Dow's Plunge

TOKYO (AP) _ Most Asian markets tumbled Friday in the wake of one of Wall Street's biggest losses of the year, with Japanese stocks also taking a hit on the yen's recent strength and uncertainty over weekend elections. Markets in Hong Kong, Australia, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia and the Philippines also fell sharply. Mainland Chinese stocks, however, ended the day flat.

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Food in Botulism Recall Still Being Sold

WASHINGTON (AP) _ Stores nationwide are continuing to sell recalled canned chili, stew, hash and other foods potentially contaminated with poisonous bacteria even after repeated warnings the products could kill. Thousands of cans are being removed from store shelves as quickly as investigators find them, more than a week after Castleberry's Food Co. began recalling more than 90 potentially contaminated products over fears of botulism contamination.

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Official: Consumer Safety Agency at Risk

WASHINGTON (AP) _ The Consumer Product Safety Commission could soon shrink to the point where it can't effectively protect the public, veteran Commissioner Thomas Moore says. Many employees at the agency responsible for overseeing the safety of many thousands of consumer products are looking for other jobs because "they have no confidence the agency will continue to exist _ or will exist in any meaningful form," Moore said in a statement Thursday.

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Oil Prices Rise Above $75 a Barrel

SINGAPORE (AP) _ Oil prices advanced Friday, clawing back some losses from the previous session when crude fell by nearly $1 a barrel on worries a slowing U.S. economy would cut petroleum consumption. Light, sweet crude for September delivery rose 35 cents to $75.30 a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, midmorning in Singapore.

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Kia Motors Profit Up 36 Percent in 2Q

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) _ Kia Motors Corp., South Korea's second-biggest automaker, on Friday reported a 36 percent rise in net profit for the second quarter on cost-cutting and strong domestic sales of the large-size Opirus sedan. For the three months through June, Kia, an affiliate of Hyundai Motor Co., posted a net profit of 61.4 billion won ($67 million), up from 45.1 billion won a year earlier.

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House Dems Try to Unite on Farm Bill

WASHINGTON (AP) _ House Democratic leaders have beaten back a challenge from their own party as they debate a multibillion-dollar farm bill that would continue subsidies for U.S. crops. Now they must unite to pass it.

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Calif. Adopts Tough Diesel Regulations

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) _ California air quality regulators on Thursday adopted the nation's toughest emission standards for off-highway diesel vehicles like bulldozers, airport baggage trucks and ski resort snowcats. An estimated 180,000 vehicles would have to be replaced or retrofitted with smog traps, filters or cleaner-burning technology beginning in 2010. The rules would be phased in through 2020 for fleets of large vehicles and 2025 for smaller equipment.

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Japanese Stocks Decline 2.36 Percent

TOKYO (AP) _ Japanese stocks tumbled Friday, hurt by a sharp decline overnight on Wall Street, recent yen strength and uncertainty about weekend elections. The Nikkei 225 index lost 418.28 points, or 2.36 percent, to close at 17,283.81 on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. The index briefly fell nearly 3 percent late in the session before recouping some losses.

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Troubled Retailer Gap Names New CEO

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) _ Struggling clothing retailer Gap Inc. is pinning its future to a veteran Canadian merchant from the retail worlds of drug stores, books and food. Glenn Murphy is a fashion industry outsider, but the company that built its $16 billion empire on khakis, T-shirts and jeans is banking on him to reverse sliding sales and regain its luster.

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Ex-Professionals Return to Work for NYC

NEW YORK (AP) _ When Mort Sheinman retired in his mid-60s, he was managing editor of a major trade publication, and he'd spent more than four decades earning some well-deserved rest. Instead, the former Women's Wear Daily manager went right back to work, ultimately taking a part-time job that used all his professional expertise and paid him just $10 an hour. New York City is hoping to find more ex-professionals like the 73-year-old _ people who are either unable or unwilling to return to work full-time but who want to use their skills and stay in touch with the workaday world. The city's Department for the Aging is launching a program to bring at least 100 such participants to work on short-term projects for city agencies. With a growing number of baby boomers approaching retirement with decades of active, healthy life ahead of them, organizers say the program could serve as a model for cities around the country.

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Gold Prices

LONDON (AP) _ Gold bullion opened Friday at a bid price of $667.70 a troy ounce, down from $673.20 late Thursday.

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Dollar-Yen

TOKYO (AP) _ The dollar fell to a new two-and-a-half-month low against the yen Wednesday in Asia amid continuing U.S. subprime mortgage woes.

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