HOUSTON — The U.S. agency responsible for worker safety failed to inspect plants with enough care and frequency to prevent an accident like the 2005 explosion at BP's Texas City refinery that killed 15 people and injured 170, a government report said Tuesday.

The final report on the nation's worst industrial accident since 1990 also blamed BP for cost cutting that left the plant vulnerable to catastrophe.

In a 335-page report, the U.S. Chemical Safety and Hazard Investigation Board said although the Texas City plant had had several fatal accidents over the last 30 years, the federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration had done only one process safety management inspection at the refinery — in 1998.

The report said the agency made other, unplanned inspections after accidents, complaints or referrals — it didn't say how many — but that those visits were typically narrower and shorter than planned inspections.

BLOCKBUSTER CEO LEAVING BY YEAR'S END

SAN ANTONIO — The chairman and chief executive of Blockbuster Inc. will leave by the end of the year, the company announced Tuesday, ending a high-profile salary squabble with the movie-rental company's board.

John Antioco, who has led the company since 1997, has repeatedly clashed in the past two years with billionaire investor Carl Icahn, who is on the board and holds about 10 percent of Blockbuster's stock. In the most recent dispute, Icahn and the rest of the board tried to withhold a chunk of Antioco's 2006 bonus.

At the end of last year, the Dallas-based company reported strong growth in the number of Total Access subscribers, its new program that merges online rental service with its retail stores in an effort to fight off competition from Netflix Inc. But launch costs were higher than expected, and cost-cutting and declining earnings at the company's retail stores have pounded the company's stock price in the past few years.

$5.93B BUYOUT OFFERED FOR ACS

DALLAS — An investment group that includes the founder and chairman of Affiliated Computer Services is offering $5.93 billion in cash to take the information technology services company private.

Affiliated Computer Services Inc. Chairman Darwin Deason said Tuesday he has teamed with investment partner Cerberus Capital Management to make the $59.25 per share bid. That represents a 15.5 percent premium to ACS's closing price Monday of $51.29 on the New York Stock Exchange.

But ACS shares rose above the offered price Tuesday, climbing $8.69, or 17 percent, to close at $59.98 on the New York Stock Exchange. They have traded in a 52-week range of $46.50 to $63.61.

The buyers would also assume about $2.3 billion in debt as part of the deal.

That bid is a good price for shareholders "in the short term, yes," said Cynthia Houlton, an analyst with RBC Capital Markets.

NEW-HOME CONSTRUCTION UP 9%

WASHINGTON — New home construction rebounded in February following a steep January slide. But analysts pointed to a further decline in building permits as a worrisome signal of future problems for the troubled housing industry.

Construction of new homes and apartments rose 9 percent in February to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.525 million units, the Commerce Department reported Tuesday. Construction had fallen by 14.3 percent in January to the slowest pace in more than nine years.

Even with the better-than-expected rebound, activity remained 28.5 percent below the level of a year ago, underscoring housing's steep downturn.

Builders' applications for new permits, considered a more reliable gauge of future activity, continued falling in February, dropping by 2.5 percent to an annual rate of 1.532 million units. That marked the 12th decline in the past 13 months in building permits.

The continued drop in permits was seen as a troubling sign that the fallout from the housing correction, which has already slowed economic growth considerably, is not over.

TRIAL UNDER WAY FOR EX-MEDIA BARON

CHICAGO — Former media baron Conrad Black's racketeering trial got under way Tuesday with a federal prosecutor calling him a corporate swindler who stole millions of dollars and his attorney ripping into the government's star witness as a liar.

But defense attorney Edward M. Genson said the money was made legally and scoffed at the notion that Black and his three co-defendants had defrauded shareholders in the Hollinger International newspaper empire.

Genson appealed to jurors not to blame Black for getting millions of dollars in payments from buyers when he sold off hundreds of community newspapers across the United States and Canada.

Black, 62, is charged along with Jack Boultbee, 63, of Vancouver, Hollinger's former chief financial officer; Peter Y. Atkinson, 59, of Toronto, the company's former general counsel; and Mark Kipnis, 60, an attorney who served as corporate secretary in the Chicago headquarters.

The men are accused of siphoning $60 million out of Hollinger through asset sales in which all but Kipnis pocketed millions of dollars in payments from buyers.

ORACLE SEES 35% JUMP IN PROFITS

SAN FRANCISCO — Oracle Corp.'s fiscal third quarter profit climbed 35 percent, lifted by strong software sales that exceeded management's projections.

The Redwood Shores-based business software maker said Tuesday that it earned $1.03 billion, or 20 cents per share, for the three months ended in February. That compared with net income of $765 million, or 14 cents per share, at the same time last year.

If not for certain expenses unrelated to its ongoing operations, Oracle said it would have earned 25 cents per share. That was 2 cents above the average estimate among analysts polled by Thomson Financial.

Revenue for the period totaled $4.41 billion, a 27 percent increase from $3.47 billion last year.

CLAIRE'S STORES AGREES TO TAKEOVER

PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. — Costume jewelry retailer Claire's Stores Inc. said Tuesday it agreed to a $3.1 billion takeover proposal from New York-based private equity firm Apollo Management LP.

Claire's, which operates about 3,000 stores in the U.S. and around the world under the names Claire's and Icing by Claire's, sells low-cost costume jewelry and accessories to tweens, teens and young adults.

The company last year retained Goldman, Sachs & Co. as its financial adviser to assist in the search for buyers.

Under terms of the agreement, Claire's shareholders will receive $33 in cash per share. The purchase price represents a 7.3 percent premium to the stock's Monday closing price on the New York Stock Exchange. The company had about 94.6 million shares outstanding as of Oct. 28, according to its latest regulatory filing.

ADOBE SALES FLAT, BUT PROFITS UP

SAN FRANCISCO — Adobe Systems Inc. reported flat first-quarter sales but easily exceeded Wall Street expectations with a 37 percent surge in profit, prompting bullish executives to raise guidance Tuesday as the software company prepares its biggest-ever product launch.

Net income for the three months ended March 2 was $143.9 million, or 24 cents a share, up from $105.1 million, or 17 cents a share, in the same quarter of last year.

Quarterly sales were $649.4 million, down less than 1 percent from $655.5 million in the first quarter of 2006.