Hunt Valve contract

Hunt Valve contract

SALEM

Hunt Valve Co. Inc., 1913 E. State St., dba Union Flonetics, won a $55,390 federal contract from the Defense Logistics Agency for the manufacture of safety-relief valves.

New businesses

STRUTHERS

Dollar Tree, Family Dollar and Ace Hardware will open in the Struthers Plaza on Fifth Street.

Dollar Tree will be the first to open Thursday, followed by Ace Hardware in mid-September. The Family Dollar is scheduled to open in December.

BP to shed Alaska assets, sell to Hilcorp Alaska for $5.6B

JUNEAU, Alaska

BP plans to sell its interests in Alaska’s once prodigious North Slope to a company seen as having a reputation of giving new life to aging fields.

The sale to Hilcorp Alaska, an affiliate of Texas-based Hilcorp Energy Co., would be worth $5.6 billion, and include interests in the Prudhoe Bay oil field, Point Thomson gas field and the trans-Alaska pipeline system, BP said. Harvest Alaska, another Hilcorp affiliate, will acquire BP’s stake in the pipeline.

The sale announced Tuesday would be subject to state and federal approval.

Brazil spurns G-7 aid

PORTO VELHO, Brazil

Acrimony between Brazil and European countries seeking to help fight Amazon fires deepened Tuesday, jeopardizing hopes of global unity over how to protect a region seen as vital to the health of the planet.

A personal spat between the leaders of Brazil and France seemed to dominate the dispute, but it also centered on Brazilian perceptions of alleged interference by Europe on matters of sovereignty, economic development and the rights of indigenous people. Brazil said it will set conditions for accepting any aid from the Group of Seven nations, which offered tens of millions of dollars for firefighting and rainforest protections.

Bank has tax returns sought in probe

NEW YORK

President Donald Trump’s longtime bank revealed Tuesday that it has tax records Congress is seeking in its investigation of the president’s finances.

Deutsche Bank said in court papers it has tax returns responsive to a subpoena sent this year, in which Congress asked the bank for a host of documents related to Trump and his family. Trump has long declined to release his tax returns and wants to block two House committees from getting the records.

Iranian president: First lift sanctions, then let’s talk

TEHRAN, Iran

Iran’s president back-pedaled Tuesday on possible talks with Donald Trump, saying the U.S. president must first lift sanctions imposed on Tehran, otherwise a meeting between the two would be a mere photo op.

Hassan Rouhani’s change of heart came a day after Trump said Monday that there’s a “really good chance” the two could meet on their nuclear impasse after a surprise intervention by French President Emmanuel Macron during the G-7 summit to try to bring Washington and Tehran together after decades of conflict.

Staff/wire reports