1. US to fine air bag maker Takata $14,000 per day
RICHMOND — The US government will fine Japanese air bag maker Takata Corp. $14,000 per day for failing to fully cooperate in a long-running investigation of faulty and potentially dangerous air bag inflators. The inflators, which are in cars made by 10 auto companies, can explode with too much force, spewing shrapnel into drivers and passengers. At least six people have been killed and 64 injured worldwide due to the problem. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx called Takata a ‘‘bad actor’’ and said the fines will grow each day that it fails to comply with two special orders issued last year by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
2. YouTube to release app for kids
SAN FRANCISCO — YouTube is going to release a mobile app that will show only video clips suitable for young children to help parents control what their children watch on the Internet. The YouTube for Kids app, scheduled to be released for Android devices on Monday, features thousands of channels that provide both entertainment and education. The content is mostly meant for children 2 to 8 years old. Clips are selected by computer algorithms and human review.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
3. Court ruling clears way for a $1 billion Madoff distribution
NEW YORK — Thousands of victims of Bernard Madoff’s multibillion-dollar fraud are not entitled to interest or inflation when they get a share of recovered funds, a federal appeals court said Friday. The ruling by a three-judge panel of the 2nd US Circuit Court of Appeals in Manhattan came after lawyers for victims argued it was only fair for victims of a fraud to get an adjustment for time lost. Madoff, 76, is serving a 150-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to fraud charges for his Ponzi scheme. The ruling clears the way for more than $1 billion currently being held in reserve to be distributed to customers with allowable claims. So far, more than $10.5 billion has been recovered, with more than $7.2 billion paid out in claims.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
4. Santander to ease restrictions on opening accounts
Santander Bank has agreed to stop using a policy that often kept poor and low-income individuals from being able to open new checking or savings accounts, the bank and New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said Friday. Santander, a Spanish bank with US headquarters in Boston, becomes the third bank, after Capital One and Citibank, to agree to loosen its policies in an effort to accommodate millions of Americans dubbed as the ‘‘unbanked’’ who must rely on expensive alternatives for everyday banking needs. The controversy involves ChexSystems that is used by nearly every bank to screen applicants for new bank accounts. ChexSystems keeps a database on whether an account holder has a history of bounced checks or overdrafts.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
5. Tentative deal reached in West Coast seaport fight
LOS ANGELES — Negotiators have agreed to a tentative contract covering West Coast dockworkers, likely ending a protracted labor dispute that has snarled international trade at seaports handling about $1 trillion worth of cargo annually. The breakthrough came after nine months of negotiations that turned contentious in the fall, when dockworkers and their employers began blaming each other for problems getting imports to consumers and exports overseas. Dockworkers union spokesman Craig Merrilees confirmed the agreement Friday evening. It must be approved by the 13,000-member International Longshore and Warehouse Union, which works 29 ports from San Diego to Seattle.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
6. Natural gas consumption hits record
The Northeast is burning a record-breaking amount of natural gas this week amid numbing cold and unending snowstorms. Bentek Energy, a Denver-based analysis company, said the demand for natural gas in 14 northeastern states hit 43.1 billion cubic feet on Monday, about 3 percent more than the peak demand recorded during last year’s brutally cold polar vortex. Luke Jackson, a Bentek analyst, said demand was especially high in New England. For example, he said, the main pipelines serving Boston were pumping natural gas at 97 and 98 percent capacity Friday morning. Bentek’s projections showed that total gas demand on Friday was on its way to top Monday’s record, mostly because of the huge demand from households and workplaces that use natural gas for heat.
JACK NEWSHAM
7. Buffett to buy German motorcycle equipment retailer
NEW YORK — Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc. has agreed to buy Detlev Louis Motorradvertriebs, a motorcycle apparel and accessories retailer in Germany, for $452 million as the company expands in Europe. ‘‘We’re probably going to buy a small business in Europe,’’ Buffett said in an interview on the Fox Business Network earlier this month. ‘‘But I’d love to buy big ones.’’ Buffett, 84, has built Berkshire over more than four decades by buying companies and investing in stocks. Louis has annual sales of about $307 million and employs more than 1,500 people in Germany and Austria, according to the statement from Beiten Burkhardt.
BLOOMBERG NEWS
8. Amtrak running at half capacity on Northeast Corridor
WASHINGTON — Amtrak’s busy Northeast Corridor ran at half its normal capacity Friday, the fourth day in a row that winter weather has disrupted service. Amtrak spokesman Marc Magliari said the frequency of the Acela Express and the Northeast Regional lines was reduced by about half on Thursday and Friday because of below-freezing temperatures. The lines also were running at half-capacity Tuesday and Wednesday following a winter storm. The company’s Northeast Corridor stretches from Washington, D.C., to Boston and is the busiest railroad in North America, with more than 2,200 trains operating daily.
ASSOCIATED PRESS
9. Western Massachusetts bank merger approved
Regulators approved a proposed merger between two co-op banks in Western Massachusetts. Greenfield Cooperative Bank and Northampton Cooperative Bank said Thursday that they had received final approval from the Federal Reserve and the Massachusetts Division of Banks to form one entity. The merger will be legally finalized on April 1, and the banks will integrate their systems through the month of April, the banks said in a statement. The Greenfield bank has six locations, according to its website. Northampton has four. The combined bank will continue to do business under both banks’ names, but they will share a new logo, and Northampton bank will operate as a division of the Greenfield co-op. The combined bank will have more than $500 million in assets and over $60 million in capital.
JACK NEWSHAM
10. State Street to boost provision for foreign exchange lawsuits
State Street Corp. said it would more than double the $50 million it had set aside in the fourth quarter, to $115 million, to resolve foreign exchange lawsuits. The Boston-based financial giant said late Friday that the increase “reflects continued negotiations” to resolve some of the foreign exchange claims against the company. State Street and Bank of New York Mellon Corp. have been the subject of lawsuits and regulatory investigations since 2011, after whistle-blower Harry Markopolos accused the companies of overcharging pensions, mutual funds, and other large customers on foreign currency trades.
BETH HEALY