NEW YORK — The New Yorker is celebrating its 90th anniversary with a special double issue featuring nine covers.
The magazine's famous Eustace Tilley character of a gentleman with a top hat and monocle appears in various depictions on each of the covers.
The magazine says it selected nine covers for each decade to "reflect the talent and diversity" of its contributors.
The special issue came out Monday.
The first issue of the New Yorker appeared in February 1925.
BRUSSELS — Greece and its European creditors began fresh talks on Monday over the country's request to ease its bailout terms, but expectations for a quick deal are low despite a fast-approaching deadline.
Optimism was curbed by German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, who said does not expect a solution can be found at the meeting in Brussels. Greek shares were down 3.6 percent in midday trading, while the eurozone's Euro Stoxx 50 index shed 0.1 percent.
"I am very skeptical, because the Greek government apparently hasn't moved at all" in its demands, Schaeuble told reporters as he arrived for talks among the 19 countries using the euro currency.
Greece wants to scrap its existing bailout deal — worth 240 billion euros (currently $273 billion) from other countries that use the euro and the International Monetary Fund — and replace it with a new one. In the meantime, it wants a short-term "bridge agreement" that can keep it solvent after Feb. 28, when the current bailout deals ends.
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras says he also wants to ease the amount of belt-tightening demanded in return for the loans. The austerity is aimed at reducing public debt, but has also caused the economy to shrink by a quarter and unemployment to soar above 25 percent.
Greece's eurozone partners say they are still waiting to hear concrete proposals from Athens and would prefer to extend the current program, at least to buy space for further talks.
"We certainly would accede to a Greek request for an extension to the program, and if that were to happen some of the road blocks would fall away and it would be possible to get down to specifics," said Ireland's finance minister, Michael Noonan.
His French counterpart Michel Sapin, said: "What I would prefer today would be an extension of the program, which would provide some margin of security as well as time for discussion and negotiations."
Some four hours before the meeting was due to start, Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis and the eurozone chairman, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, arrived at European Union headquarters in Brussels but declined to speak to reporters.
Germany's Schaeuble said Athens was in no position to make demands.
"I feel sorry for the Greeks," he told German radio earlier Monday. "They've elected a government that's behaving pretty irresponsibly at the moment."
In an Op-Ed in the New York Times Monday, Varoufakis said Greece is not looking to avoid paying its debts.
"We are asking for a few months of financial stability that will allow us to embark upon the task of reforms that the broad Greek population can own and support, so we can bring back growth and end our inability to pay our dues," he wrote.
Time is short. If no deal is reached by Feb. 28, Greece's banks could be cut off from affordable funding from the European Central Bank. A serious deterioration in Greek banks' finances could cause depositors to withdraw money, potentially causing a collapse in the banking system. Ultimately, that could force the government to leave the eurozone — a move informally dubbed Grexit — so that it can print its own money and rescue its banks.
Any agreement with creditors will require approval by national parliaments in eurozone countries, which would add further delays.
Asked if emergency funding for Greek banks could be extended "for months," a top ECB official, Peter Praet, said in an interview with Portuguese newspaper Jornal de Negocios that "when you have a systemic crisis, you may need flexibility in terms of duration."
The bank's governing council next reviews the funding permission Wednesday.
Berenberg Bank analyst Holger Schmieding said time and money are running out for Greece.
"A subtle change in tone in Athens suggests that the new Greek government has started to notice," he said in a note. "But whether (Tsipras) has really grasped how close he has already pushed Greece to the abyss of wholesale financial crisis, recession and Grexit and whether he is ready to perform the inevitable U-turn to avoid that fate remains a very open question."
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Nicholas Paphitis in Athens, Greece, Geir Moulson in Berlin and David McHugh in Frankfurt, Germany, contributed to this report.
Vehicle manufacturers are embracing new technology, but things have moved so fast in the past few years, some buyers have no idea what is available.
"Car shoppers are spending more time considering and evaluating the consumer electronics and technology they want in their cars and ultimately are spending more money on the technologies they really want," said Michelle Krebs of AutoTrader. "But it's like Rip Van Winkle waking up. So much new tech has been developed since a lot of buyers have shopped for a new vehicle.
"Consumers want protection, and tech helps prevent accidents and make life more convenient."
Not all tech advances are safety-related. Navigation systems have a safety benefit, but they're also a convenience feature that delight owners — as are charging ports, Bluetooth capability, remote start and keyless entry.
Robert O'Koniewski, executive vice president of the Massachusetts State Automobile Dealers Association, said carmakers are casting "a wide net" in exploring new tech.
"Manufacturers are all trying to come up with next big thing,' said O'Koniewski. "They're looking to find an edge to offer something useful to attract customers. For example, in the truck market, Dodge has been developing self-contained Wi-Fi for the Ram because contractors are looking for that capability. Ford and Chevy are doing the same thing."
Ron Montoya, consumer advice editor for Edmunds.com, listed five relatively new car technologies that buyers might want to look into:
BMW i3 carbon fiber-reinforced plastic chassis
"BMW's i3 electric vehicle has a carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic body shell and chassis that is extremely strong and lightweight," Montoya said. "There's a chance we could see more cars made of these materials if the costs come down. The fuel economy and performance benefits would be huge."
Tesla's autopilot system
"We haven't had a chance to test this, but if it works as advertised, it would be the earliest implementations of automated driving in a vehicle," said Montoya. "Tesla says the system is smart enough to read stop lights and drive in stop-and-go traffic."
Rear back-up cameras
"These aren't new," said Montoya, "but the fact that they are appearing on more cars is. In fact, they will become standard on all vehicles by 2018. These cameras are becoming a 'must have' feature as rear visibility on some newer cars can be an issue."
Front crash prevention
"This technology includes forward collision warning and autonomous braking systems. These systems will alert the inattentive driver that he is getting too close to the car in front of him and in some cases will hit the brakes for them. It's like having an extra set of eyes on the road," said Montoya.
Heads-up display
Heads-up displays give basic information (navigation directions, speed) and are widely available. "They have tremendous potential to change the way we get information in a car," Montoya said. "They were once found only on luxury cars, but now you can get it on the inexpensive Mazda 3."
The bottom line on vehicle tech remains safety enhancements, the most potentially revolutionary of which is the "smart car/smart highway" concept of self-driving and self-monitoring vehicles that reduce or eliminate human error.
"This technology is potentially game-changing with respect to traffic safety," said John Paul, senior manager of traffic safety for AAA. "This is all part of the ADAS (advanced driver assistance systems); the stepping stone to self-driving cars."
Check out the e-Edition of our Presidents Day Automotive Special Section.
Trucks remain popular across the United States because of their durability, utility and affordability — but they've come a long way in engineering and comfort.
Trucks now have a variety of sizes, passenger-carrying capability, engine choices and technological features once the exclusive domain of cars.
Edmunds.com features editor Mike McGrath listed five great values in the truck market for interested consumers:
Chevy Colorado
"In recent years," McGrath said, "trucks have gotten hugely capable and just plain huge. For those of us who don't need to haul the Space Shuttle, the new Colorado has a strong 305-horsepower V6 engine, a tow rating of 7,000 pounds and a bed big enough for a dirt bike or a trip to Home Depot." (MSRP: $20,120, MPG: 20/27)
Toyota Tacoma
The lone non-American on McGrath's list of best trucks is the Toyota Tacoma. "Like the Colorado, the Tacoma is a solid midsize pickup for those who don't need a full-size truck," he said. "Unlike the Colorado, the Tacoma's getting a little long in the tooth and the interior is dated. That said, it's still terribly functional and, with the right TRD options, a ton of fun." (MSRP: $20,965, MPG: 21/25)
Dodge Ram 1500
The third-best-selling truck in the U.S. has always won points with its progressive styling. McGrath says beneath that skin is even more beauty. "Ram is on a roll thanks to the overall superiority of the new 1500," he said. "Not only does it have coil-springs in the back that take ride comfort to a new level, but its new diesel powertrain hauls, tows and cruises with equal efficiency." (MSRP: $25,410, MPG: 20/28)
Ford F-150
The heavyweight sales champion's new model isn't resting on its laurels, McGrath said. "The 2015 has two big tricks up its sleeve. The first is the availability of a small, 2.7-liter turbocharged V6 that makes 325 horsepower and can tow 8,400 pounds. The other trick is the new aluminum-intensive body structure that increases strength and reduces weight." (MSRP: $25,720, MPG: 19/26)
GMC Sierra
The GMC Sierra is the posh twin of the Chevrolet Silverado. The two together sold more than 741,000 units last year, just a bit under the Ford, to finish second and 18th in overall sales. "Sure, it's hugely capable, but it's also luxurious, quiet and remarkably civilized for a pickup," McGrath said. (MSRP: $26,075, MPG: 18/24)
Read the free e-Edition version of our Presidents Day Special Automotive Section
BEIJING — Working out of a Beijing office full of video game designers from around the world, Chinese-born Pin Wang and his startup Substantial Games should be the face of the innovative, forward-looking China that the country's leaders say they want to build.
Pin and his team are attracting investors from across China while launching online games full of swords and sorcery that they hope will dazzle global eyeballs. But for several weeks, Pin's team has struggled with a decidedly down-to-earth problem that's hit countless companies nationwide: They're unable to access their email, shared documents and other online services blocked by China's Internet censors.
"Something that should take 15 seconds takes three or five minutes, and it screws with the way you flow or you work," Pin said. "We don't have the resources to move because we're a startup. But we talk about it all the time."
Chinese controls on information have tightened and loosened over the years, but Pin and others are feeling what many say is China's most severe crackdown in decades on how people learn about the world around them, talk to each other and do business.
On the Internet, in college classrooms and in corporate offices, the Chinese Communist Party has raised the virtual wall separating the most populous country from the rest of the globe. Experts say it reflects a distrust of outside influences that the party thinks could threaten its control on society.
Companies that have depended for years on virtual private networks, or VPNs, to get around Chinese online censors and access business tools have seen those channels squeezed or shut down since the start of the year.
Academics who have long helped Chinese authorities distill foreign ideas into public policy have been told to watch what they say, especially about so-called Western ideas that clash with party doctrine. And many foreign companies that were welcomed into China's booming economy have seen their offices raided by investigators and been forced to pay record fines in antitrust investigations.
Despite Chinese government pledges to create an innovation economy that leads the world, China ranked 22nd out of 50 countries, between Ireland and Spain, in a global innovation index released this month by Bloomberg financial news service.
"To have the best educational system and the best university has nothing to do with how many high-rises you have and how many good dining halls you have," said Rowena He, a Harvard University lecturer. "The most important thing at the core is the intellectual freedom that makes up life in a university and academia," she said. "But instead of opening up to reforms, we see the opposite."
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hua Chunying responded to the concerns of foreign businesses by pointing to a U.N. report showing China became the world's top destination for foreign direct investment in 2014.
Hua also echoed previous government arguments that people online needed to first obey Chinese regulations on "healthy" Internet use.
"As long as foreign companies in China observe the Chinese law and refrain from undermining China's national security and consumers' interest, China will protect their legal rights and welcome their business expansion," Hua said.
The tighter controls reflect instability within the party as President Xi Jinping shakes up the political landscape in a much-publicized anti-corruption campaign that's netted thousands of government officials, said prominent China scholar Perry Link. The strategy echoes back to the political purges of Mao Zedong, the founding father of the People's Republic of China, Link said.
"Since Xi Jinping has come in, the clampdown has been stronger and more unidirectional than anything since the Mao era," Link said.
Professor Xia Yeliang was among the first to feel the consequences when the economics faculty of prestigious Peking University voted to expel him in October 2013, a month before Xi took power after a lengthy, stage-managed transition. Xia had long been an advocate for democratic reforms in China and helped draft Charter 08, a bold call for sweeping changes to China's political system.
Xia said more than 20 professors in China have been expelled or otherwise disciplined for their political teachings since Xi came to power. "Through my colleagues, I can sense that the ideological controls are getting much tighter," said Xia, now a visiting fellow at the libertarian U.S. think tank the Cato Institute.
In that political climate, the government sees the Internet as a top threat and has responded by building a ubiquitous system for censoring what people in China can see online. Xi presides over the powerful Central Internet Security and Information Leading Group, which formed three months after he took power.
The list of controls grows every month.
Late last year, Chinese censors finally blocked all Google services after the U.S. company refused to cooperate with them in 2010. This month, officials required that all Chinese blog and chat room users register with their real names and promise in writing to avoid challenging the political system. In the coming weeks, new cybersecurity regulations will reportedly require foreign companies to turn over sensitive intellectual property and submit their products to security checks.
The party has paid especially close attention to the microblog Weibo and censored messages that touch on sensitive subjects, said Rogier Creemers, a research officer at Oxford University's Programme for Comparative Media Law and Policy.
"Weibo has become a venue for chaotic discussion, and part of the effect it had was it essentially meant the party had lost the initiative and couldn't say what got into the public sphere," Creemers said.
The latest moves are in line with Beijing's longtime approach to regulatory change: It eases control on commercial or other activity, sees how it develops and then promotes aspects it wants while suppressing those it doesn't.
Chinese Internet users, for example, still are avid consumers of social media, e-commerce and video streaming sites, even if the censors are always lurking, said Dali Yang, faculty director of the University of Chicago's center in Beijing.
"This is a society with a tremendous level of information, people who are very well educated in terms of actual information and they know of history going back centuries," Yang said.
Still, while Chinese leaders see the Internet as a source of prosperity and jobs, they are willing to give up commercial gains to enforce political controls. When the government clashed with Google, people in the industry warned that driving out the U.S. search giant would hurt China's development.
Walling off China's Internet has allowed some local websites such as search engine Baidu and Weibo to prosper in the absence of foreign competition. Other local companies, such as Pin's startup, chafe at the restrictions.
Foreign entrepreneurs and companies, meanwhile, are trying to figure out whether the costs of doing business in China outweigh the benefits of tapping the world's second-biggest economy.
Rich Chinese also are looking to leave the country. A survey by the British bank Barclays last year found that 47 percent of more than 2,000 high-worth Chinese are hoping to move within five years. The poll found that their top reasons were greater educational and economic opportunities for their children and overall economic security.
"Beijing is an attractive place to be because of the amazing talent," said Beijing-based entrepreneur Nils Pihl, who heads the database startup Traintracks. "But it's getting harder for us to stay, and my social feed is full of other CEOs saying they're worried they will have to leave."
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AP Business Writer Joe McDonald contributed to this report.
HARTFORD, Conn. — For anyone betting on the Northeast's casino bonanza, the odds are long on projects hitting financial expectations.
In the last several states to open casinos — Ohio, Maryland and Pennsylvania — overall revenue is coming in below baseline forecasts, according to a review of state tax data. Officials blame miscalculations of spending habits and competition, but some also question how much the projected numbers reflected wishful thinking.
The casino industry has grown exponentially over the last decade as revenue-hungry states have moved to claim business that once went across state lines to Atlantic City, New Jersey, or the tribal-owned megaresorts in Connecticut. After Nevada, Pennsylvania has emerged as the country's No. 2 gambling marketing, overtaking Atlantic City, where four of 12 casinos closed last year.
As Massachusetts and New York prepare for a new round of casino building, they have added new levels of financial scrutiny, enlisting consulting firms to vet revenue projections. But the industry's growth in the Northeast's tight geography has made modeling more complex, and experts warn there are no guarantees.
"This isn't a science," analyst Alan Woinski said.
Projections are developed through so-called gravity models, premised on the concept that bigger casinos draw more people from farther away. They are used by developers and regulators to estimate how a property will perform based on factors including the affluence of surrounding towns.
The track record shows big margins for error. With access to the same data, developers regularly come back with higher projections than regulators who run the numbers themselves, especially when companies are competing for bids. A recent study by Cummings Associates, a Massachusetts-based consulting firm, found that projections done for the same project were, on average, 20 percent apart and, in cases where the casinos were actually built, almost always were proved too high.
Casinos generally remain big moneymakers, and some projects have far exceeded predictions, but state averages have been below forecasts that set expectations for tax revenue.
One of the biggest misses came in Ohio, where the state Department of Taxation weighed in on a proposed constitutional amendment in October 2009 with an estimate that casinos would generate at least $470 million in annual tax revenue. In 2014, tax revenue from the casinos totaled $267.5 million.
"In retrospect, we were guessing," said Mike Sobul, who was the tax department's director of research.
Sobul said the gravity model run by Ohio officials used industry assumptions that were overly optimistic, and, more significantly, officials underestimated how the recession would affect consumer spending. Sobul, who tracks the numbers now as a financial officer for an Ohio school district, said schools that once were expected to receive more than $80 per pupil statewide in casino money are now expecting about $51 per pupil.
In Maryland, casino revenue has been hundreds of millions of dollars short of a December 2008 projection by the Department of Legislative Services.
Even in Pennsylvania, the casino boom's success story, it took the addition of table games in 2010 to bring revenue beyond levels projected by a state task force that assumed they would offer only slot machines. Doug Harbach, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania Gaming Control Board, said the projections were not badly inflated.
"You have to take into account that the market in surrounding states now has much more competition," he said.
For all the attention to revenue projections, many industry insiders say the real test is whether banks, which conduct their own research, will loan money for a casino.
"If a bank is going to put up a hundred million dollars, that's a tacit show of feasibility," said Michael Ross, president of the Innovation Group in Winter Park, Florida, one of many consulting firms in the forecasting business.
Where some earlier states were often guided by in-house analyses, Massachusetts and New York have brought in more outside experts to conduct their own market research, assess the numbers from the developers and guide state officials who acknowledge their limited experience with the gambling industry.
Even so, estimates made during a bidding process can vary so widely that even rival developers say they are sometimes mystified. The chief executive at Connecticut's Mohegan Sun, which lost out to Wynn Resorts in a competition for a Boston-area casino license, said the Canadian consulting firm working with the Massachusetts Gaming Commission should have challenged their rival's projections for spending by international high rollers.
"I don't think enough questions were asked by the consultants," CEO Mitchell Etess said. "If you're in meetings with the gaming commission, and you get the sense they like Wynn, you're not going to ask a lot of questions."
Massachusetts Gaming Commissioner Enrique Zuniga said Wynn promised lower numbers overall but from a broader area. He said officials are well aware that projections are only estimates, and they look at many other factors, including details of the proposed property, the developers' established clientele and market research.
"We're not taking any numbers to the bank," Zuniga said.
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Michael Melia can be reached at https://twitter.com/MikeMeliaAP
PORTLAND, Maine — A Maine science institute wants students at New England colleges to know if the seafood in their school cafeterias was pulled from the region's waters.
The Portland-based Gulf of Maine Research Institute is targeting colleges and universities to carry its label that promises seafood products are harvested locally and sustainably. The institute offers a "responsibly harvested" label to food vendors that can source products back to the Gulf of Maine. Supermarkets, including regional giants Shaw's and Hannaford, have so far been the primary vendors to carry the stamp, which launched in 2011.
Wellesley College in Massachusetts and the University of New Hampshire are the first colleges to sign on to use the label, institute seafood brand manager Kyle Foley said. The institute is talking to several other schools in New England and hopes to announce more partnerships in the next six months, she said.
"We're providing some way for consumers to make a choice to support the industry," Foley said. "There is a lot of great seafood here in this region and consumers have incredible power to support coastal communities."
The institute verifies whether seafood processors are using seafood harvested in a way that contributes to the long-term health of the stock, Foley said. The fish must meet several criteria, including the existence of management plans and sufficient data about harvest levels, to be labeled. They must also be caught in the Gulf of Maine, which stretches from Cape Cod to Nova Scotia. The label can be applied to 10 species, including popular staples such as lobster, scallops and haddock.
The Gulf of Maine Research Institute charges processors a fee on sales of products that end up labeled, which has netted the institute more than $200,000 so far, Foley said. The processors then sublicense the right to use the label to vendors, like stores and schools, which also sign an agreement with the institute, she said.
Keith Tyger, the executive chef of dining services at Wellesley, said the label will soon be appearing alongside horseradish-encrusted dogfish and Mediterranean-style hake at the Boston-area college.
"With the struggles of the local fisherman and how the industry has been decimated around here, it's a step to start to support the local economy," Tyger said.
The research institute's sustainability label is one of many in the culinary world. The Marine Stewardship Council labels more than 20,000 products with its "certified sustainable seafood" label, which appears all over the world. All the labeling and focus on local ingredients can add costs, but it also lends accountability to the vendor, said Michael Leviton, a Boston-area chef.
"At the end of the day, we're still at a point where sustainability needs to be sold," Leviton said.
Dish Network and Epix have inked a multiyear renewal for continued carriage of its movie services on traditional pay TV, as well as bringing them to the satcaster's recently launched Sling TV Internet-delivered package as a premium option.
Under the deal, Dish and Sling TV subs who subscribe to Epix will have access to four linear channels -- Epix, Epix 2, Epix 3 and Epix Drive-In -- plus 2,000 on-demand titles streamed online.
Recent releases coming to Dish's Epix customers are to include "Transformers: Age of Extinction," "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles," "Interstellar," "Selma" and "The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1." Epix, a joint venture of Viacom and its Paramount Pictures unit, Lionsgate and MGM, also offers documentaries as well as music and comedy specials.
Dish officially launched Sling TV nationwide last week, offering a slimmed-down initial lineup of 14 networks -- with ESPN the most prominent among them -- for $20 per month. The company plans to add additional nets to the core package, including AMC, and also offers add-on packages.
Epix will be available on Sling TV as an a la carte option, with pricing and availability yet to be announced. "Sling TV will feature Epix's linear channels and movies on-demand in an add-on package that is accessible and affordable," said Roger Lynch, CEO of the Sling TV subsidiary.
Currently, Sling TV does not offer other premium cable services such as HBO, Showtime or Starz.
Sling TV has limited awareness across all consumer demos, including among those 18-34 -- the target group for the over-the-top package, according to research conducted by Ipsos MediaCT. In addition, many people confused Dish's Sling TV with Sling Media's Slingbox place-shifting devices, the survey found.
© 2015 Variety Media, LLC, a subsidiary of Penske Business Media; Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC
AUSTIN, Texas — A three-man arbitration panel has ordered Lance Armstrong and Tailwind Sports to pay $10 million in a fraud dispute with a promotions company.
Dallas-based SCA Promotions announced the 2-1 ruling against the former cyclist on Monday when it asked a Texas state court to confirm the arbitration decision.
SCA paid Armstrong about $12 million in bonuses during his career, when he won seven Tour de France titles. Those victories were stripped away after Armstrong and his U.S. Postal Service teams were found to have used performance-enhancing drugs.
SCA disputed bonuses in arbitration in 2005, and the case produced the foundation of the doping evidence that was used against him. After Armstrong's cheating was exposed, SCA sued to get its money back.
Armstrong's attorney, Tim Herman, declined comment.
LONDON — European stocks edged lower on Monday as investors were skeptical that Greece and its European creditors would find a quick deal to solve the country's debt problems. Asian stocks, however, closed higher after Japan emerged from recession.
KEEPING SCORE: Germany's DAX fell 0.4 percent to close at 10,923.23 and France's CAC 40 dropped 0.2 percent to 4,751.95. Britain's FTSE 100 inched down 0.2 percent to 6,857.05. In Asia, Tokyo's Nikkei 225 jumped 0.5 percent to 18,004.77 and the Shanghai Composite Index added 0.6 percent to 3,222.36. Hong Kong's Hang Seng gained 0.2 percent to 24,726.50. Wall Street is closed for a public holiday.
GREEK TENSIONS: Eurozone finance ministers meet Monday to consider Greece's proposal for short-term "bridge financing" without the onerous terms previously imposed on the country until a longer-term solution to Greece's crushing debt is found. Investors hope an agreement will be reached to avoid Greece's exit from the euro. Germany's finance minister on Monday said a quick deal on Monday is unlikely. That pushed Athens' stock index down almost 4 percent.
JAPAN REBOUND: Asia was buoyed by news Japan emerged from recession last quarter, even though growth fell short of many forecasters' expectations. Data on Monday showed the world's third-largest economy grew at a 2.2 percent annualized rate in the three months ending in October, boosted by exports and public spending. Growth for 2014 was flat and real wages fell 0.1 percent. Private investment was anemic, suggesting that businesses and households still are cautious. Japan's economy slipped into recession last year after the government increased sales tax in April.
THE QUOTE: "The fact that the economic growth started stabilizing should be reassuring to both the government and the Bank of Japan," said economist Yoshiro Sato of Credit Agricole-CIB in a report. "That said, the level of real GDP is still far below that before the consumption tax hike and that will require continued efforts made by the government side in terms of structural reforms."
ENERGY: U.S. benchmark crude was up 22 cents at $53.00 per barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract gained $1.57 on Friday to close at $52.78.
CURRENCIES: The dollar dropped to 118.48 yen from 118.76 yen late Friday. The euro was steady at $1.1390.
