According to The Wall Street Journal and CBS News, General Motors is planning to pull its ads from Facebook.

That would be a big move because GM has spent about $10 million in Facebook ads and the news comes just days before Facebook goes public on Friday.

The Journal reports:

"Asked about the move, GM marketing chief Joel Ewanick said the Detroit auto maker 'is definitely reassessing our advertising on Facebook, although the content is effective and important.' Content refers to the unpaid Facebook pages many companies use to promote their products.

"GM, started to re-evaluate its Facebook strategy earlier this year after its marketing team began to question the effectiveness of the ads. GM marketing executives, including Mr. Ewanick, met with Facebook managers to address concerns about the site's effectiveness and left unconvinced advertising on the website made sense, according to people familiar with GM's thinking."

CBS reports that GM is the third-largest advertiser in the U.S. And while $10 million is a small portion of Facebook's $3.7 billion revenue, "losing a high-profile customer like GM could raise fears about other advertisers abandoning the service."

Reuters is reporting that it has received a statement from GM that confirms the Journal's report.

President Obama welcomed the Los Angeles Galaxy to the White House today in celebration of their Major League Soccer title.

The team, which has won three cups, is star studded. But there is no one bigger than David Beckham and president Obama took advantage of the opportunity to give the international soccer star a ribbing.

It's a "rare man who can be that tough on the field and also have his own line of underwear," the president said in reference to Beckham's underwear line for H&M. According to the AP, the president also made fun of the 37-year-old's age, saying half his teammates, "could be his kids. We're getting old, David."

This picture pretty much tells the story:

Carlos Fuentes, one of the most prolific and best known Spanish-language authors, has died. His death was reported on Twitter by Mexican president Felipe Calderon. The Mexican daily Reforma, which Fuentes often wrote for, reports the author died after experiencing heart problems.

He was 83.

"I am profoundly sorry for the death our loved and admired Carlos Fuentes, writer and universal Mexican. Rest in peace," Calderon wrote on Twitter.

El País, the Spanish newspaper that carried some of his essays, confirmed his death.

El Universal spoke to Consuelo Saizar, director of the National Council for Culture and Arts, who said Fuentes possesed a "great literary body of work."

"He was a vital man like his prose," Saizar said. "And dies without his very much deserved Nobel prize."

In the United States, Fuentes is best known for his novel Gringo Viejo, or The Old Gringo, which was made into a film in 1989 starring Gregory Peck.

Among his major literary awards was the Cervantes Prize in 1987.

Update at 3:39 p.m. ET. A Bit Of Biography:

Fuentes was born in Panama City in 1928. As the obit in El País notes, Fuentes' father was a Mexican diplomat so he moved around quite a bit. He was schooled in places like Argentina, Chile, Brazil and in the United States for eight years.

El País notes that when he was 12-years-old, Fuentes read Cervantes' El Quijote and that left such a mark that "Fuentes turned into one of the premiere experts on the first modern novel."

Update at 3:47 p.m. ET. His Work:

The AP has a bit more on Fuentes' body of work:

"His generation of writers, including Colombia's Gabriel García Márquez and Peru's Mario Vargas Llosa, drew global readership and attention to Latin American culture during a period when strongmen ruled much of the region.

"The Death of Artemio Cruz, a novel about a post-revolutionary Mexico that failed to keep its promise of narrowing social gaps, brought Fuentes international notoriety.

"The elegant, mustachioed author's other contemporary classics included Aura, Terra Nostra, and The Good Conscience. Many American readers know him for The Old Gringo, a novel about San Francisco journalist Ambrose Bierce, who disappeared at the height of the 1910-1920 Mexican Revolution. That book was later made into a film starring Gregory Peck and Jane Fonda."

Update at 3:55 p.m. ET. Searching For Identity, Searching For Differences:

Back in 2002, NPR's Morning Edition spoke to Fuentes. The occassion was his latest novel Inez, the tale of "a lovelorn orchestra conductor, a young Mexican soprano and a mysterious crystal seal."

Very little of that novel was based in Mexico. The lead character, Inez, was Mexican but the action took place across the world.

Fuentes told Bob Edwards that he would be surprised by modern Mexican literature. In the past, he said, Mexican literature was about identity.

"But, now, we have an identity," he said. "We know what it means to be Mexican."

The literature in Inez, he said, goes a step further by focusing on discovering differences.

Edwards, after noting that the author had more than 20 novels under his belt, asked Fuentes where his Nobel prize was.

"My Nobel was is in the pockets of Gabriel García Márquez," he said, adding that Márquez had received the honor for a whole generation of Latin American writers. He said he would leave the prize for a new generation.

We have a fondness for stories about centenarians, we have to admit.

There was Fauja Singh, the 100-year-old "Turbaned Tornado," who finished the Toronto Marathon last year.

And we've posted about Tennessee's Evelyn "Mama Bird" Johnson, who died last week at the age of 102. She held the Guinness world record for most hours logged by a female pilot.

Now we're hearing about Marie Kelleher in Virginia, who at the age of 99 is still setting swimming age-group records. Counted as being 100 because United States Masters Swimming rules "use the swimmer's age as of December 31 for competitions held in 25-meter courses," according to Virginia Masters Swimming, she just became "the oldest known American woman to have competed at a USMS-recognized meet."

The Richmond Times-Dispatch says that "Kelleher swims four days a week, usually logging about 10 laps per session. She arrives at the Tuckahoe YMCA at 5 a.m. on her swimming days, driving herself 9 miles from her home to arrive exactly when the Y opens."

"I need the swimming," she told the newspaper, with a grin. "I'm not much at walking anymore. ... I told somebody recently that I staggered when I walk. He said that didn't sound too good. So let's just say I wobble."

NATO has just asked the Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari to attend the May 20-21 summit in Chicago. The AP says the overture signals that the rift between NATO and Islamabad may be coming to a resolution.

If you remember, after an American airstrike killed 24 Pakistani soldiers in November, Pakistan closed its Western border to Afghanistan, effectively stopping an important supply route for coalition troops.

The AP adds:

"The U.S. expressed regret for the airstrikes and has been quietly pressing Pakistan to reopen the routes over the last two weeks. Washington and NATO stepped up those efforts in recent days by making it clear Islamabad would not be welcome at the two-day summit beginning Sunday in Chicago unless it did so.

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen phoned President Asif Ali Zardari on Tuesday afternoon to invite him to the meeting, according to a statement from the Pakistan government and NATO.

"'This meeting will underline the strong commitment of the international community to the people of Afghanistan and to its future,' NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said in Brussels, where the alliance is based. 'Pakistan has an important role to play in that future.'"

The AFP reports that Pakistan has all but accepted the offer and this marks a "return from the cold for Islamabad, which boycotted the last major international talks on Afghanistan, held in Bonn in December."

The wire service reports that a cabinet meeting on Wednesday is widely expected to approve the reopening of the supply routes.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos said a bomb detonated in the middle of Bogotá, the country's capital and largest city, was intended to kill former interior minister Ferdnando Londoño Hoyos.

El País reports that Santos condemned the attack, saying the bomb exploded next to the armored vehicle Londoño was travelling in.

The AP reports at least two people are dead, while Radio Caracol is reporting that at least five are dead with 19 injured. Two of the dead, reports Caracol, were Londoño's body guards. Londoño was injured, the president said, but is now out of danger.

It's still not clear whether the bomb was thrown at the vehicle or whether it was a car bomb. Photos from the scene show the bombed-out remains of a small bus.

"We don't understand what the purpose of this is," Santos said, according to Caracol. "But rest assured, the government will not allow itself to be derailed by these terrorist acts."

Update at 5:23 p.m. ET. Government Points Finger At FARC :

Radio Caracol reports that Andrés Villamizar, director of the country's national protection unit, says Londoño had been threatened by the guerilla group FARC because of his work with the Álvaro Uribe administration and because of his work as journalist currently.

Caracol reports the bomb was placed on the former interior minister's car using a magnet.

Aletta — a modest tropical storm spinning of the western coast of Mexico with 40 mph winds — is already special because of two reasons: It the first tropical storm in the Western Hemisphere and it has now broken a 41-day streak in which Earth did not see a cyclone.

Jeff Masters at Weather Underground provides a little more detail:

— First, he says, this season is off to an early start. "Since record keeping began in 1949, there have only been two that have formed by May 15—Hurricane Alma of 1990, and an unnamed 1996 storm."

— Second: "The formation of Aletta ends a 41-day streak without a tropical storm anywhere in the world. According to the UK Met Office, the 41-day period storm-less period is the longest span Earth has gone without a tropical storm in at least 70 years."

Aletta, by the way, is not expected to bother anyone. That's why The Washington Post jumps ahead and asks: Does this early storm — the Atlantic Hurricane season doesn't start until June 1 — mean we're in for an early start?

"The birth of Aletta in the eastern Pacific signals activity is picking up in tropical regions around the world," the Capital Weather Gang reports. "The agitated appearance of the cloud field in the eastern Pacific suggests there may be more development there in during the next few days."

Back in April, William Gray, the legendary meteorologist, released his forecast (pdf) for the hurricane season. He said he expected a season with "reduced activity."

"We anticipate a below-average probability for major hurricanes making landfall along the United States coastline and in the Caribbean," Gray wrote.

The Justice Department has begun looking into JPMorgan Chase's $2 billion-and-counting loss from a hedge account, The Wall Street Journal reports. It cites "a person familiar with the matter" as its source.

The Journal adds that "the probe is at an early stage and it isn't clear what possible legal violation federal investigators may be focusing on."

The Securities and Exchange Commission is already conducting its own probe into the bank's billion dollar blunder.

Meanwhile, at JPMorgan's annual shareholder meeting today in Tampa, CEO Jamie Dimon "survived a shareholder push ... to strip him of the title of chairman of the board," The Associated Press reports, and "won a shareholder endorsement of his pay package from last year, which totaled $23 million."

During the meeting, Dimon said the trading loss, "should never have happened. I can't justify it. Unfortunately these mistakes were self-inflicted." He pledged to learn from the mistakes "and fix them."

Update at 12:35 p.m. ET. Reuters Says New York Office Of The FBI Is Leading The Probe:

"The New York office of the FBI has opened an investigation into JPMorgan Chase & Co's $2 billion trading loss, a source familiar with the probe said on Tuesday. The source, who requested anonymity because the investigation is ongoing, said the probe was in a 'preliminary' stage."

Republican Ron Paul is not shuttering his presidential campaign, his chief strategist says in a memo sent this morning to supporters and the news media.

"Let me be very clear," said Jesse Benton, "Dr. Paul is NOT dropping out or suspending his campaign."

"As Dr. Paul has previously stated, he is in this race all the way to the Republican National Convention in Tampa this August," Benton said. The campaign will, though, be "maximizing our resources" by not investing in remaining primary states, he said.

Benton's statement comes after reports over the past 24 hours characterized the Texas congressman's move to curtail his activities in the remaining primary states as an end to his campaign. (As Eyder reported Monday, though, the Paul campaign's "carefully worded statement about its plans spelled out how it would continue hunting for delegates.)

"We will," Benton said today in his statement, "continue to run strong programs at district and state [party] conventions to win more delegates and alternate delegates to the national convention.

 

The "new phase" of the campaign, he said, will begin Friday at the Minnesota state GOP convention, where Paul has been invited to speak. He is also scheduled to appear at the Texas party convention in early June. The handful of remaining GOP primaries are scheduled to wrap up June 5, while state and district party conventions are scheduled to end with Nebraska's gathering on July 14.

Benton, in his memo, urged supporters to remain active and continue to donate to the campaign in an effort to ensure that Paul goes to Tampa with a "solid group of delegates."

"We are in an excellent position to make sure the Republican Party adds solid liberty issues to the GOP platform," he said, while acknowledging that former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney is within striking distance of wrapping up the committed delegates he needs to win the nomination.

"Our delegates," Benton says, "can still make a major impact at the national convention and beyond." Including, he said, using their influence "to shape the process for future liberty candidates."

Future liberty candidates include Paul's son, Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky, who could be a successor to his father on the presidential trail four years from now.

It's All Politics is following the ups and downs of the 2012 presidential campaign.

Francois Hollande took the oath of office today in pouring rain as France's latest leader and lost no time in turning to the country's economic problems. One of his first acts was to cut his salary by nearly a third. Now he's flying to Germany to meet Chancellor Angela Merkel to talk about an unpopular European austerity program championed by his predecessor, Nicolas Sarkozy.

Their meeting should be interesting.

The pact calls for "strict budgetary discipline" according to Spiegel, and Germany is its biggest supporter. Hollande opposes it, unless it can be amended with proposals for growth; these reflect his view that austerity should be coupled with spending on certain investments. It's something Merkel's not likely to support, says the Economist.

Back at home, Hollande not only cut his own salary but those of his ministers; capped wages of top leaders at some large companies; and froze government spending, Spiegel adds. He's vowing to impose new taxes on the wealthy and on banks, lower the retirement age for some workers and cut back on nuclear energy, notes the AP.

But Hollande's leading plan appears to be stimulus spending to help France climb out of its growing debt; the BBC says he'd launch big infrastructure projects paid for by bonds. Critics say France shouldn't go into more debt to solve its red ink.

The new president shrugged off his first challenge of the day: as he perched out the sunroof of the car driving him up the Champs-Elysees, he was soaked to the skin by heavy rain. Reuters says while wet through, Hollande continued on to the Arc de Triomphe and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Already in the spotlight over whether it executed one innocent man — Cameron Todd Willingham — in 2004, the state of Texas now faces questions about whether another man may have been wrongly condemned to death.

Columbia Law School's Columbia Human Rights Law Review has posted online a 400-page, multi-media investigation that concludes it was mistake to have put Carlos DeLuna to death in 1989 for the murder of Corpus Christi convenience store clerk Wanda Lopez.

Basically, the Review's investigation concludes that the state put too much faith on unreliable testimony from one witness and that DeLuna wasn't provided with adequate legal representation. It was another man named Carlos, most likely, who committed the murder, according to the Review.

 

The San Antonio Express-News reports today that the lead prosecutor in the case against DeLuna "has not read the journal article, but disputed the authors' conclusions."

"These guys are crusaders,' Steve Schiwetz told the newspaper. "What can I say?"

But Columbia Law professor James Liebman told the Express-News that the examination of the case against DeLuna began with a 2003 student project looking at Texas death penalty cases that relied on a single eyewitness account to secure a conviction.

"This case changed my whole view," Liebman said. "I had thought the problem cases were ones where you have an out-of-town defendant, a scary person who commits a really bad crime that grabs the whole community. ... Now, I think the worst cases are those that likely happen every day in which no one cares that much about the defendant or the victim."

Willingham, as The New Yorker reported in a lengthy 2009 story, was put to death even though there was substantial evidence to indicate he did not set a fire that killed his three young daughters, as prosecutors alleged.

"In Texas," as The Statesman has reported, "12 convicts have been exonerated since 1976 among 139 prisoners nationwide, and controversy has swirled several times over whether Texas may have executed innocent men — the latest involving the case of ... Willingham."

Two bits of economic news this morning:

— Consumer prices overall were unchanged in April, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports, thanks in large part to a 2.6 percent drop in the price of gasoline.

— Consumer spending rose just 0.1 percent in April from March, the Census Bureau says. According to Bloomberg News, some of the slowdown in spending growth may have been because unusually warm weather and pre-Easter shopping pushed March sales up more than expected.

It's only for women — and only for one woman at a time, it seems.

But officials in Ichihara City, Japan, claim they've created the "biggest public toilet in the world."

As The Japan Times reports, outside the city's train station there's now a fenced-in, "200-sq.-meter plot of land" with flowers, plants, pathways and — "smack in the middle" — a toilet enclosed in a glass box.

"Why make it so unusual?" the newspaper asks. According to an official from the Ichihara City Tourism Promotion Department, "it's hoped that the toilet will become a tourist attraction for visitors to next year's Ichihara City Art Festival, which is currently in its planning stages. The festival is a government-led initiative to improve the area through the 'renovation of public facilities with the help of arts,' which they hope will attract more tourists and boost the region's economy."

The 6 1/2-high wall is supposed to help provide privacy. There also appear to be curtains that can be drawn around the inside of the toilet's glass box.

Cost of this project: About $125,000.

We'll ask before you do: Money well spent, or has it been flushed down the drain?

(H/T to ABC News' Akiko Fujita.)

Good morning - if it's Tuesday, somebody somewhere is voting. Here are some stories we're following:

Former Murdoch Editor Facing Criminal Charges In Hacking Scandal.

Facebook Ups Its Forecast: Says Shares Will Sell For $34 To $38.

Gen. John Allen Expected To Leave Afghan Command, Take Over U.S. European Command By Next Year. (Washington Post)

Francois Hollande Takes Oath Of Office As France's New President. (Euronews)

Primary Elections Held Today In Nebraska And Oregon. (UPI)

Greek Leftist Politicians To Reject Greek President's Plan To Form A 'Technocrat' Government; May Force New Election. (Reuters)

John Edwards' Eldest Daughter Expected To Testify At His Corruption Trial Today. (CBS)

Reports: A Man Sets Himself Afire Outside Trial Of Norwegian Mass Shooter. (Sky News)

U.S. Astronaut And Two Russian Cosmonauts Blast Off, Head For International Space Station. (MSNBC)

Tropical Storm Aletta Forms In Pacific Off Mexico's Southwestern Coast. (NHC)

Strong demand for its first public sale of stock has led Facebook to raise its forecast for how much each share will sell for when the company goes public on Friday.

"We anticipate that the initial public offering price will be between $34.00 and $38.00 per share," the company says in a statement filed earlier today with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Earlier, the social medial giant had expected shares would sell for $28 to $35 each.

As Dow Jones Newswires says, "The Wall Street Journal reported late Monday that the company would raise the price due to overwhelming demand by investors." CNN.com adds that "Facebook executives and the company's IPO underwriters have spent the past two weeks on the road meeting with potential investors and measuring the demand for the company's stock."

About 337 million shares are going on sale. Think you'll be able to get some at the initial price? Well, as The Associated Press reports, "you'll need Facebook friends at very high levels — or a lot of money. Most people who like the idea of owning Facebook's stock will have difficulty getting it at the offer price. ... Unless you know the right people at Facebook, you'll likely need to have a large, active account with one of the big banks or brokerage firms directly involved in the stock sale."

The Wall Street Journal notes that of the 337 million shares, "only a fraction of that amount will go to small investors" because most brokerages have set "steep eligibility requirements" for those seeking to get in on the action. "For example, at Fidelity, clients must have at least $500,000 in their account or have made 36 trades in the past year. Long-tenured clients with the most assets and who trade the most frequently will have preference, says a spokesman."