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And letter 'B' is still between 'A' and 'C'

"Page 3 of The Sun is where it's always been, between pages two and four."

Spokesman for Britain's Sun newspaper

Reassuring readers after reports it is calling time on its topless Page Three Girls. (The Times of London)

U.S. infrastructure frayed at the edges

Michael Sabia and U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden are on the same page.

The chief executive of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Quebec said in November that he feels like he's in an episode of Leave it to Beaver when he arrives at New York's LaGuardia Airport.

And he wasn't talking about the warm, cozy feeling of the 1950s sitcom, but rather the dire state of the airport, which has seen little in the way of modernizing since it opened in 1939. Mr. Biden seems to agree, commenting last year that landing there feels like being "in some third-world country."

For his part, Mr. Sabia wasn't taking shots at the airport, but simply pointing to it as an example of the lack of investment in U.S. infrastructure. Still, the head of New York's Port Authority, which is responsible for running LaGuardia, wrote to Mr. Sabia after he made the comments. The Caisse chief didn't divulge the contents of the letter, but it's unlikely his observations about the airport were welcomed.

Gotcha!

Has Britain's Sun hoodwinked the nation? Thursday's issue of the tabloid featured a bare-breasted Page Three Girl, after just a two-day break from its 45-year tradition.

A headline at the top of the page reading "Clarifications and corrections" stated: "Further to recent reports in all other media outlets, we would like to clarify that on Page 3 of today's Sun is a picture of Nicole, 22, from Bournemouth."

And indeed there is.

Sun PR head Dylan Sharpe tweeted late Wednesday night: "Just got a call from [BBC Radio 4 Today asking] 'Do you want to discuss why you've brought back Page 3?' Me: 'I don't recall telling you it had gone?'"

CEO of secretive Tootsie Roll dies

It's the end of an era for the maker of American candy Tootsie Roll after its 95-year-old chairman and CEO died on Tuesday.

Melvin Gordon was head of Tootsie Roll Industries for more than 50 years, and the oldest CEO of any NYSE or Nasdaq-listed company.

His 82-year-old wife, Ellen, who was married to Mr. Gordon for 65 years, inherited control of the company from her father and will succeed her late husband in both roles. The Gordons were just two of many seniors at Tootsie Roll, where board members have an average age of 78, according to Bloomberg.

The stock saw its biggest one-day gain since 2008, rallying by more than 7 per cent on expectations it would be a buyout target. Tootsie Roll has long kept out of the media spotlight, issuing very brief earnings reports and keeping outsiders away from the headquarters.

"I think the only way you can get a tour is by jumping the fence and sneaking in," the last analyst to cover the company told the Wall Street Journal in 2012.

Do you have any pizzas to declare?

Despite their current woes, members of the European Union have benefited from unfettered trade with each other. But Switzerland remains stubbornly independent, and is prepared to protect its economic interests, even when it comes to its pizza joints.

The budget-conscious Swiss, whose currency has been riding high, have enjoyed lower prices by phoning in their orders across the border to Germany. But Swiss authorities cracked down on the practice about a year ago, rescinding a waiver on fast food, Reuters reports.

The Chamber of Industry and Commerce for the German region of Hochrhein-Bodensee lobbied for an exception, but the Swiss remain implacable, confirming its decision earlier this month.

So the party's over for good: All pizzas must be cleared through Swiss customs – even small thin-crust ones with fewer than three toppings.

Auto makers race to win the super-rich

The 1-percenters – aka the global elite – will own half of the world's wealth by next year, according to a study released by Oxfam International on Monday. Auto makers appear to have taken note for some time.

At the Detroit Auto Show this week, the richest of the rich got a preview of some of the new offerings aimed squarely at them. For those wanting to make a serious splash there was the LaFerrari Ultracar, priced at $2-million (includes car mats). For skinflints there was the Mercedes-Maybach S600, not yet priced but expected to come in under $200,000, or the "entry-level" McLaren P13 for just £130,000 ($195,00 U.S.), which would probably do for a graduation gift.

There are a number of reasons for auto makers' newfound enthusiasm for this tiny demographic slice, reports The Economist.

The biggest is likely the fact that profit margins for the most high-end vehicles are as rich as their buyers: between 10 and 15 per cent, say analysts at U.S.-based consultants AutoPacific. Compare that with the paltry take on mass-market vehicles – in the low single-digits – and it's no wonder there's a race for the inside lane in the segment.

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Study and track financial data on any traded entity: click to open the full quote page. Data updated as of 28/03/24 1:02pm EDT.

SymbolName% changeLast
TR-N
Tootsie Roll Industries
-0.53%31.79

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