Maine, Vermont senators urge USDA milk-price review

Vermont’s independent U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders is joining three colleagues in calling for a review of minimum federal dairy price supports, given sharply increasing farm expenses.

Sanders joined Maine Republican Sens. Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins and Sen. Al Franken, a Minnesota Democrat, in asking the U.S. Department of Agriculture to review its floor price for raw milk.

The senators point to rising production costs, including sharply higher prices for the corn that goes into animal feed. Corn reserves are at a 15-year low because of drought conditions in many areas.

Staples hastens 15 closures in U.S., plans 45 in Europe

Staples is speeding up the closure of about 15 of its U.S. stores and plans to close 45 stores and some delivery businesses in Europe.

The office products company also said it will invest more in its online and mobile efforts and will expand the product assortment that it offers to its business customers.

Framingham, Mass.-based Staples Inc. said Tuesday that these moves and other actions are part of a strategic plan to better serve customers’ needs and accelerate growth.

Last month, the company reported that its second-quarter net income fell as sales of computers, software and basic office supplies softened.

Computer sales have been pressured by the introduction to many officers of the computer tablet and other mobile devices. Traffic is also down at Staples stores, and Europe continues to be a weak spot.

The chain expects the U.S. store closings will result in a charge of about $35 million in the fourth quarter. For fiscal 2012, it anticipates about 30 U.S. store closings. The locations of the stores weren’t disclosed.

RIM to debut BlackBerry 10 worldwide in first quarter

Research In Motion Ltd. plans to release its new BlackBerry 10 smartphone lineup on six continents in the first quarter, seeking to capitalize on the company’s lingering strength in overseas markets.

RIM has already met with 30 carriers to show them the BlackBerry 10 operating system, and the response has been positive, Chief Marketing Officer Frank Boulben said in an interview from the BlackBerry 10 Jam conference in San Jose, Calif.

“We’ve been hearing things like, ‘Unique, revolutionary, really slick,’” he said.

Waterloo, Ontario-based RIM is counting on overseas customers to offset shrinking demand in North America, where the BlackBerry has lost ground to Apple’s iPhone and Google’s Android operating system.

BlackBerry still commands a huge following with about 80 million subscribers, thanks mostly to its appeal to corporate customers who like the device’s security and compatibility with their email systems.

RIM is touting the software’s ability to run multiple programs at once, making it easier for business customers to be productive. BlackBerry 10 won’t hit the market until a still-unscheduled date early next year.

RIM’s share of the global smartphone market, which it once dominated, tumbled to 4.8 percent in the second quarter from 12 percent a year earlier, according to research firm IDC.