c.2013 New York Times News Service

AGENCY’S INQUIRY COVERS 400,000 FORD PICKUPS

The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Sunday that it was investigating consumer complaints about “sharp reductions” in acceleration on 2011 to 2013 Ford F-150 pickups that are equipped with the 3.5-liter EcoBoost V-6 engine. The action — called a preliminary evaluation — covers about 400,000 of the F-150 pickups, according to a report the agency posted on its website Sunday. The safety agency said that it had received 95 complaints from owners saying that the pickup sometimes lost power when trying to pass other vehicles. About one-third of those filing a complaint said the problem occurred in damp or rainy conditions.

SEEKING FOOD INGREDIENTS THAT AREN’T GENE-ALTERED

Food companies big and small are struggling to replace genetically modified ingredients with conventional ones. Pressure is growing to label products made from genetically modified organisms, or “GMO.” In Connecticut, Vermont and Maine, at least one chamber of the state legislature has approved bills that would require the labeling of foods that contain genetically modified ingredients, and similar legislation is pending in more than two dozen other states. This weekend, rallies were held around the globe against producers of genetically altered ingredients, and consumers are threatening to boycott products that are not labeled.

INDUSTRY TAKES AIM AS COMPUTER PROGRAMS SIPHON OFF CONCERT TICKETS

Live music fans, and the concert industry that serves them, have a common enemy. That enemy is the bot. “Bots,” computer programs used by advanced scalpers, are a hidden part of a miserable ritual that plays out online nearly every week in which tickets to hot shows seem to vanish instantly. These cheap and widely available programs are frustrating fans and feeding a multibillion-dollar secondary market for tickets. Ticketmaster and its parent company, Live Nation Entertainment, have stepped up efforts to combat bots. The result has been a game of cat and mouse between the company and the bots.

PLANS FOR AMERICAN AL-JAZEERA CHANNEL SHIFTING FOCUS TO U.S. NEWS

When Al-Jazeera’s owners in Qatar acquired Al Gore’s Current TV in January, they said that Current would be replaced by Al-Jazeera America, an international news channel with 60 percent new programming from the U.S. The remaining 40 percent, they said, would come from Al-Jazeera English, their existing news channel in Doha, Qatar, that is available in much of the rest of the world. That plan is no more. Now Al-Jazeera America is aiming to have virtually all of its programming originate from the U.S., according to staff members and others associated with the channel who were interviewed in recent weeks.

ISRAELI VENTURE IN ELECTRIC CARS FILES IN COURT TO LIQUIDATE

Better Place, an electric vehicle infrastructure company, unveiled plans more than five years ago to pioneer a system of quick-service battery swapping stations across Israel to enable unlimited travel. But on Sunday, Better Place announced that its venture, a flagship enterprise of Israel’s image as a startup hub, was coming to an end. Dan Cohen, the company’s third chief executive, said in a statement that financial difficulties had left the company no option but to file for liquidation in a district court and to request the appointment of a provisional receiver.

SOUTHERN AFRICA DEVELOPMENT FUND MIRED IN DEBT

The initiative began two decades ago, with the best of intentions, after apartheid fell and southern Africa’s future brightened. Today that program, the Southern Africa Enterprise Development Fund, is in its death throes, apparently victimized by mismanagement, insider dealings and a lack of oversight by federal officials. Current and former fund officials are fighting over money, and the eventual cost to U.S. taxpayers of the fund’s missteps could run into the tens of millions of dollars, public filings indicate. The dilemma point to wider problems bedeviling the federal agency that financed the fund, the U.S. Agency for International Development, or USAID.

DAILY DEALS BOLSTER POPULARITY OF E-BOOKS ON BACK SHELF

One Sunday this month, the crime thriller “Gone, Baby, Gone,” by Dennis Lehane, sold 23 e-book copies, a typically tiny number for a book that was published in 1998. The next day, boom: It sold 13,071 copies. “Gone, Baby, Gone” had been designated as a Kindle Daily Deal on Amazon, with a 24-hour price cut to $1.99 from $6.99. Flash sales like that have taken hold in the book business, a concept popularized by the designer fashion site Gilt.com. Consumers accustomed to snapping up instant deals for items like vintage glassware on One Kings Lane or baby clothes on Zulily are now buying books the same way.