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One of the region’s biggest casinos is about to get a new owner.

Penn National Gaming on Monday announced a deal to buy Harrah’s Maryland Heights Casino from Caesars Entertainment for $610 million. The purchase, expected to close by the end of the year, will give the fast-growing Pennsylvania gaming company a deeper foothold in the $1.1 billion St. Louis casino market, eight years after it bought locally based Argosy Gaming.

“The planned addition of Harrah’s St. Louis will further expand Penn National’s regional operating platform with a facility that is extremely well-positioned in a large metropolitan market,” said Penn CEO Peter Carlino.

The casino, which opened on the Missouri River in 1997, is the region’s second-busiest by revenue. Gamblers spent $268.4 million there last year, according to the Missouri Gaming Commission, down 1.2 percent from 2010.

It has a 500-room hotel, 4,600-car parking garage and 2,600 slot machines. But the property has seen relatively little investment in recent years, even as new rivals around the region have opened up and old ones have expanded.

Its parent company, Caesars, was acquired by private equity firms in 2008, and went public in February. Chief executive Gary Loveman has said he hoped to sell some properties to fund new projects.

“The sale of this property exemplifies our strategy to maximize returns from our mix of assets through investments in new markets as well as occasional divestitures,” he said. “We are committed to expanding our distribution network into growth markets that have the potential for high returns no fax payday loan.”

While Caesars is selling, Penn has been growing.

The company bought a casino in Las Vegas last year and has opened new properties in Maryland, Ohio and, just this February, Wyandotte County, Kansas. It has had a presence in the St. Louis market — owning the Argosy Alton — since buying Argosy Gaming in 2004 for $1.4 billion.

Having two casinos in the St. Louis market could help Penn save money on marketing and back office costs. But spokesman Joe Jaffoni said that synergy was not a major factor in the deal.

“(Maryland Heights) is just a good asset. It’s got a good long-term operating history,” he said. “It’s pretty much in the Penn National sweet spot.”

After the sale goes through, Penn will re-brand the casino to its “Hollywood” brand, which it uses at 11 other properties and “will invoke the glamour of 1930s art deco Hollywood.”

The deal will need approval by the Missouri Gaming Commission, which vets all casino-license holders in the state. Penn already owns a property in Kansas City, so that process may be quicker than if it were a new company to the state.

The casino employed nearly 1,900 people in 2010, according to Maryland Heights financial documents. There was no word Monday on how the sale might affect workers there.

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A credit card hack attack on Global Payments is hitting the headlines. Here are answers to some of the key questions it raises.

What happened in the Global Payments breach?

Global Payments, a company that processes card transactions, discovered an unauthorized intrusion into its servers in early March. The company says it "promptly" notified others in the industry. It didn’t publicly announce the breach until Friday.

The breach affects all major credit and debit card brands, because Global Payments is one link in the long chain involved in card transactions.

When a customer swipes a credit card, the data is sent to a payment processor like Global Payments, which coordinates the steps involved in authorizing the charge and submitting the transaction details to card networks like Visa (, Fortune 500) and MasterCard (, Fortune 500). It’s a quick but complicated process, with lots of players in the mix.

What kind of information was stolen? What can the hackers do with it?

Global Payments () released a statement late Sunday saying that around 1.5 million card numbers may have been compromised. That’s a big breach, but the odds are good that your card wasn’t among them. There are more than 1 billion credit and debit cards currently in circulation in the U.S., according to the Nilson Report, an industry trade publication.

Card numbers were stolen, but that’s all the thieves got fast cash online. Cardholder names, addresses and Social Security numbers were not affected, according to Global Payments.

That’s good news. Stolen numbers can be used create to fraudulent cards, but they’re not enough for full-fledged identity theft.

Global Payments is still investigating how the breach happened. The U.S. Secret Service has launched its own inquiry.

What does this mean for me? Should I be worried?

While the threat of a compromised card is upsetting, customers should sit tight. If your card issuer thinks your account may have been compromised, they’ll contact you. Some may need to reissue credit cards or take other steps to contain the damage.

No matter what, you’re not liable for unauthorized charges made on your account.

As Visa (, Fortune 500) put it in a response to the Global Payments debacle: "It’s important for U.S. Visa consumer cardholders to know they are protected against fraudulent purchases with Visa’s zero liability fraud protection policy, which exceeds federal safeguards. As always, Visa encourages cardholders to regularly monitor their accounts and to notify their issuing financial institution promptly of any unusual activity." 

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Scotland Yard’s communications chief resigned Thursday, the third senior police figure to part with his job over the force’s failure to come to grips with Britain’s phone hacking scandal.

Dick Fedorcio stepped down after the force decided he would face disciplinary proceedings over a contract awarded to a former executive at Rupert Murdoch’s now-defunct News of the World tabloid. The Independent Police Complaints Commission ruled that Fedorcio had to answer questions over the decision to hire Neil Wallis, the former News of the World executive later arrested on suspicion of breaking into voicemails.

The links between senior members of the News of the World and Scotland Yard have come under particularly close scrutiny because both organizations insisted for years that there was no evidence of widespread phone hacking at the tabloid.

Those assurances fell apart after it emerged that journalists at the paper routinely broke into the phones of celebrities and other public figures to score scoops or get leverage. Three parallel police inquiries, a cascade of lawsuits, and a judge-led inquiry have since lifted the lid on a host of illegal practices, from large-scale bribery to computer hacking no fax cash advance.

The scandal’s fallout has shaken Britain’s establishment. The News of the World has been shut, the country’s press watchdog has been scrapped, and dozens of journalists, executives, and public officials have either resigned, been suspended or been arrested over their role in the scandal.

Among them are former Scotland Yard chief Paul Stephenson and ex-Assistant Commissioner John Yates, both of whom resigned in July. Fedorcio’s decision was announced Thursday, but he’d been on extended leave since August.

Politicians also have been drawn into the scandal. Kit Malthouse, London’s deputy mayor for policing and crime, was asked why he had challenged police about the resources they were pouring into the phone hacking investigation.

Malthouse, called before the judge-led inquiry on Thursday, defended his skepticism, saying that the phone hacking investigation is projected to draw in some 200 people by 2013.

“That’s the equivalent of eight murder squads,” he said.

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Iraqi lawmakers are reconsidering buying pricey armored cars for themselves with government money, after bitter criticism from a largely poor and unprotected public.

The decision to spend $50 million on 350 armored cars was included in the $100 billion budget for 2012 that parliament approved late last week.

Since then, the subject of the cars has infuriated Iraqis who believe they have little say or influence in the government.

Some lawmakers agreed on Wednesday with a plea by parliament speaker, Osama al-Nujaifi, to give up the cars and instead spend the money on what he described as “more important” issues.

Violence has dropped dramatically across Iraq but deadly bombings and shootings are still common. Six people were killed Wednesday in bombings in two Iraqi cities.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

BAGHDAD (AP) _ Iraqi officials say a car bomb on a main street in a shopping area in southeastern Baghdad has killed four people.

Police officials say the explosion during rush hour Wednesday morning also wounded nine other passers-by and damaged storefronts. Hospital officials confirmed the casualties. All officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to release the information.

Violence has dropped dramatically across Iraq from just five years ago when the country teetered on the brink of civil war. But deadly bombs and shootings still happen nearly every day as militants try to undermine public confidence in Iraqi’s government and security officials.

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Shell Lubricants has informed employees it will close its Wood River Blending Plant in Roxana and its St. Louis regional distribution center in O’Fallon, Mo.

Ninety-six people work at the two facilities.

A Shell spokesperson said the blending plant needed extensive upgrades. She said Shell does not own the plant and the company decided not to renew the current lease when it expires. With closure of the blending plant, the distribution center will no longer be optimally located for its functions, she said.

The blending plant employs 83 people and the distribution center employs 13. They produce and distribute bulk and packaged lubricants, including motor oil.

Shell built the huge Wood River Refinery in 1917 and owned and operated it for many years. The distribution center had operated since 2000. The two Shell Lubricants locations are the only Shell-operated businesses remaining in the St. Louis area. The blending plant is leased from ConocoPhillips, which now operates the refinery.

The blending plant is scheduled to close at the end of 2013. The distribution center will close at the end of this year.

Affected employees will be considered for other positions within the company or offered competitive severance packages, the company said in a written statement.

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Stock markets shrugged off signs of a slowing Chinese economy on Tuesday, as investors hoped for strong corporate earnings from the U.S. and looked to a new round of talks in Berlin for progress in solving Europe’s debt crisis.

The U.S. economy has shown new signs of strength recently, and investors are hoping that will boost corporate earnings results due to be announced in coming weeks. In particular, signs that the U.S. labor market is improving has raised the possibility of a recovery in American consumer spending, one of the main motors of global economic growth.

Britain’s FTSE 100 index of leading shares rose 1.0 percent to 5,668.89 and Germany’s DAX rose 2.4 percent to 6,158. France’s CAC-40 rose 2.1 percent to 3,194, while indices in Spain, Italy, Switzerland and elsewhere across Europe also recorded gains betwen 1 and 2 percent.

Ahead of the opening bell, Wall Street appeared set for a higher opening as well. Dow Jones industrial futures rose 0.5 percent to 12,402 and S&P 500 futures gained 0.6 percent to 1,283.10.

Moods were tempered by relatively gloomy indicators out of Europe.

The European Central Bank said Tuesday that the amount of overnight deposits that the region’s banks held with it rose to euro481.93 billion ($613 billion) on Monday, breaking the record euro463.56 billion set only a day before.

The high deposits mean banks are keeping spare cash in a safe place even though they earn low interest. They also reflect large amounts of cash put into the banking system from ECB emergency loans of euro489 billion taken up by more than 500 banks in late December.

Dutch electronics giant Royal Philips Electronics NV kicked of corporate Europe’s earnings season by warning that its fourth quarter profits were worse than expected due to a weak European market that made it difficult to charge customers as much as it wanted to for light bulbs.

“Our expected fourth quarter financial results have been affected by the weakness in Europe, which has impacted our health care business, as well as pricing in our consumer lighting business,” said Chief Executive Frans van Houten in a statement.

Philips shares fell 6 percent to euro14.715 in early trading in Amsterdam.

On the day that international debt inspectors were returning to Athens, Greece successfully raised euro1.625 billion ($2.07 billion) in the sale of 26-week treasury bills, at a marginally lower interest rate than a similar auction last month.

Debt-crippled Greece relies on international rescue loans to keep solvent. Although unable to issue long-term debt due to incredibly high borrowing costs, it maintains a market presence through regular treasury bill auctions business card templates.

Greece’s situation will be discusses at an “informal” meeting between Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel and International Monetary Fund boss Christine Lagarde in Berlin Tuesday evening.

Ahead of that meeting, Fitch Ratings said a number of euro countries, including Italy, may see their credit ratings downgraded by one or two notches by the end of this month as they struggle to cope with the debt crisis.

Fitch’s head of sovereign ratings David Riley says Tuesday the agency will give its verdict on several countries by the end of January. Fitch currently has Italy, Spain, Belgium, Ireland, Slovenia and Cyprus on so-called “ratings watch negative.”

Much interest in the markets centers on Italy, which Riley says is the “front line” of Europe’s debt crisis.

Overnight markets in Asia were marginally higher thanks to improving economic data out of the U.S., said Cameron Peacock of IG Markets in Melbourne.

The optimism was tempered by news that China’s import growth decelerated sharply in December in a new sign the world’s second-largest economy is slowing.

The customs agency said December imports rose 11.8 percent over a year ago, down from November’s 22.1 percent gain. Exports rose 13.4 percent, down only marginally from the previous month’s rate.

The country’s politically sensitive global trade surplus widened to $16.5 billion.

Weaker Chinese demand for imports reflects a slowdown in rapid domestic economic growth after Beijing tightened lending and investment curbs to prevent overheating. A slump in global demand for Chinese goods has prompted the government to reverse course and promise measures to shore up growth.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 index, reopening after a three-day holiday weekend, added 0.4 percent to close at 8,422.26. Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index rose 0.7 percent to 19,004.28 while South Korea’s Kospi jumped 1.5 percent to 1,853.22. Australia’s S&P ASX 200 rose 1.1 percent at 4,152.20. Benchmarks in Singapore, Taiwan, and Indonesia also posted gains.

Benchmark crude for February delivery rose $1.46 to $102.77 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract fell 25 cents to settle at $101.31 in New York on Monday.

In currency trading, the euro rose to $1.2799 from $1.2762 late Monday in New York. The dollar fell to 76.85 yen from 76.89 yen.

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Service industries in the U.K. grew at the fastest pace in five months in December and strengthened in the U.S., suggesting their economies are partly withstanding to the euro-area debt crisis.

A gauge of U.K. services activity based on the survey of purchasing managers (PMITSUK) rose to 54 from 52.1 in November, Markit Economics and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply said today in London. A U.S. services index rose to 52.6 in December from 52 the previous month.

The data suggest the U.K. economy strengthened in December after surveys earlier this week showed construction and manufacturing improved. Still, the euro-area crisis is clouding the outlook for the global recovery. The Bank of England said today banks may toughen loan terms because of the debt turmoil, hampering growth, while some Federal Reserve officials have said prospective economic conditions may warrant

The European Central Bank