Subpoena over sex ads blocked by court

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts temporarily blocked a Senate subpoena that seeks information on how the classified advertising website Backpage. com screens ads for possible sex trafficking.

The order Tuesday came hours after Backpage CEO Carl Ferrer asked the high court to intervene, saying the case threatens the First Amendment rights of online publishers.

A federal appeals court ruled Friday that the website must respond to the subpoena within 10 days. Roberts said Backpage does not have to comply with the appeals court order until further action from the Supreme Court. He requested a response from the Senate by Friday.

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U.S. services companies grew last month at the slowest pace in more than six years, a private survey finds. The Institute for Supply Management said its services index fell to 51.4 last month from 55.5 in July. The August reading was the lowest since February 2010.

Canada’s Enbridge is buying Houston-based Spectra Energy for about $28 billion, creating North America’s largest energy infrastructure company. Both companies operate pipelines that deliver oil and natural gas.

Pharmaceutical giant Bayer AG sweetened its bid for Monsanto, offering $127.50 per share, up from $125 in July, a bid the seed company had called inadequate. Excluding debt of about $9 billion, the latest proposal values Monsanto at $55.8 billion.

The New York attorney general’s office is investigating whether Mylan Pharmaceuticals unfairly limited competition for its emergency allergy treatment EpiPen. A preliminary review showed the company “may have inserted potentially anticompetitive terms” into sales contracts with school systems, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said. Mylan says more than 700,000 free EpiPens have been distributed to 65,000 schools and it has dropped a purchase restriction for schools that wanted more at discounts.