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United Airlines mechanics strike new deal
May 16 2005 11:59PM (CT)
CHICAGO (AP) - With United Airlines' mechanics accepting a tentative contract agreement, the machinists union remains the lone holdout in granting the bankrupt carrier further concessions.
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Perelman wins $604.3M from Morgan Stanley
May 16 2005 11:56PM (CT)
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) - A jury that awarded billionaire financier Ron Perelman $604.3 million in compensatory damages is preparing to mull his request for another $2 billion in punitive damages from Morgan Stanley, which he accused of deceiving him about Sunbeam Corp.'s financial condition.
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Consumer spending lifts Japan's economy
May 16 2005 11:53PM (CT)
TOKYO (AP) - A jump in consumer spending helped lift Japan's economy to its fastest growth in a year during the January-March quarter, but analysts and officials cautioned Tuesday that the numbers reflect a technical rebound from a previous quarter hampered by natural disasters.
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China's TCL, Alcatel in joint venture
May 16 2005 11:51PM (CT)
SHANGHAI, China (AP) - Chinese television and cell phone maker TCL Communication Technology Holdings Ltd. will buy back a 45 percent stake in a handset joint venture from France's Alcatel SA, parent company TCL Corp. said Tuesday.
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Paul Carroll named Hollinger CEO
May 16 2005 10:19PM (CT)
TORONTO (AP) - Hollinger Inc., the embattled Canadian holding company formerly led by Conrad Black, has announced the appointment of Paul Carroll as president and chief executive.
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Tokyo stocks mixed; dollar lower vs. yen
May 16 2005 9:55PM (CT)
TOKYO (AP) - Tokyo stocks were mixed Tuesday morning as selling by foreign investors eroded early gains from strong economic data. The dollar was trading lower against the yen and the euro.
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Crude futures gain in Asia, stay below $49
May 16 2005 9:52PM (CT)
SINGAPORE (AP) - Crude futures gained in Asia on Tuesday as traders injected funds into the market, taking advantage of three-month low prices on the previous day.
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Union takes Alaska Airlines to court
May 16 2005 9:47PM (CT)
SEATTLE (AP) - The union representing nearly 500 employees laid off by Alaska Airlines last week asked a federal judge Monday to prevent the company from outsourcing the work to subcontractors.
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PalmOne promotes interim CEO to top job
May 16 2005 9:19PM (CT)
MILPITAS, Calif. (AP) - PalmOne Inc., a pioneer in hand-held organizers and smartphones, promoted interim chief executive Ed Colligan on Monday to the top position permanently.
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Toyota plans announcement at Ky. plant
May 16 2005 8:12PM (CT)
GEORGETOWN, Ky. (AP) - Toyota Motor Corp. planned a news conference Tuesday at its Kentucky auto plant, amid reports that the company plans to begin building a gasoline-electric hybrid version of the Camry here.
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Former Homestore execs plead not guilty
May 16 2005 7:17PM (CT)
LOS ANGELES (AP) - Two former executives of the online real estate listing firm Homestore Inc. pleaded not guilty Monday to conspiracy and fraud charges for their alleged role in a scheme to inflate the company's advertising revenues.
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Vintners toast ruling on shipping bans
May 16 2005 7:07PM (CT)
NAPA, Calif. (AP) - Vintners broke out the bubbly Monday and began taking calls from East Coast customers eager to order after the Supreme Court struck down bans on out-of-state wine shipments.
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MCI shares withheld in board re-election
May 16 2005 6:29PM (CT)
CHANTILLY, Va. (AP) - More than a quarter of MCI Inc.'s shares were withheld Monday in the re-election of the company's board of directors, a sizable protest against their decision to accept an $8.5 billion buyout from Verizon rather than a higher-priced offer from Qwest.
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Regulators issue accounting guidelines
May 16 2005 5:57PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Federal regulators issued guidelines Monday that allow flexibility for companies and accounting firms in implementing key provisions of a landmark anti-fraud law. The rules could reduce a perceived compliance burden that many companies have complained about.
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Pension examiners find undisclosed ties
May 16 2005 5:47PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Federal examiners have found that many pension fund consultants are getting undisclosed payments from advisory firms that manage fund assets, potentially creating conflicts of interest that work against investors, officials of the Securities and Exchange Commission said Monday.
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McDonald's testing new oil blend for fries
May 16 2005 5:34PM (CT)
CHICAGO (AP) - Healthy french fries might seem like an oxymoron, but McDonald's said it is trying to make good on an almost 3-year-old promise by testing a healthier blend of oil for its signature fries at a small number of restaurants.
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Employer drug testing slows spread of use
May 16 2005 5:34PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Employers are catching more workers using methamphetamine, but the drug's spread into the workplace appears to have slowed considerably, a new study finds.
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N.Y. Times to charge for some Web articles
May 16 2005 5:26PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - The New York Times will begin charging for online access to Op-Ed and news columnists beginning in September, bucking a trend in which newspapers have offered their content on the Web for free.
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Court giving Khodorkovsky verdict adjourns
May 16 2005 5:22PM (CT)
MOSCOW (AP) - The reading of the verdict in Mikhail Khodorkovsky's trial could take days, but even from the first words out of the judge's mouth Monday, lawyers for Russia's one-time richest man said there was little doubt he would be found guilty on all charges.
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Limited Brands 1Q profit falls 76 percent
May 16 2005 5:20PM (CT)
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - The retailer Limited Brands Inc., dragged down in part by big merchandising mistakes at its Express stores, reported Monday that first-quarter profit fell 76 percent from last year when it had a large, one-time gain.
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Lowe's shares rise despite missed forecast
May 16 2005 5:20PM (CT)
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) - Shares of Lowe's Cos. rose Monday after the nation's No. 2 home improvement retailer posted a 31 percent gain its first-quarter profits.
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UPS to buy Overnite for $1.25B in cash
May 16 2005 5:18PM (CT)
ATLANTA (AP) - UPS Inc., the world's biggest shipping carrier, is stepping up expansion of its freight delivery business with its $1.25 billion purchase of trucking company Overnite Corp., a move that drew quick response from rivals who vowed not to be deterred.
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Delphi meets on refinancing; 2 execs quit
May 16 2005 5:12PM (CT)
DETROIT (AP) - Delphi Corp., the largest U.S. auto parts supplier, said it was meeting with banks Monday to discuss a plan to obtain between $2.5 billion and $3 billion in loans.
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Monday's Commodities Roundup
May 16 2005 5:10PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Crude-oil futures in New York fell slightly Monday, failing to recover their recent losses under pressure from swelling inventories and a stronger dollar.
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Gas prices decline by 2 cents a gallon
May 16 2005 5:03PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - The retail price of gasoline fell by 2 cents last week to average $2.16 a gallon nationwide, the Energy Department reported Monday.
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Bond prices fall as stocks rise sharply
May 16 2005 4:56PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Bond prices fell Monday, while stocks rose sharply, as fears of a slowdown in consumer spending eased in the wake of falling oil prices.
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Blockbuster raises pay for six executives
May 16 2005 4:41PM (CT)
DALLAS (AP) - One day before shareholders ousted three directors of Blockbuster Inc. partly over executive compensation, the movie-rental chain's board approved raises of up to 7.6 percent for six top managers.
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Agilent second-quarter profit declines
May 16 2005 4:26PM (CT)
PALO ALTO, Calif. (AP) - Agilent Technologies Inc., a maker of electronic testing instruments and laboratory equipment, said Monday that profit fell 9 percent in its fiscal second quarter as semiconductor sales declined. The company forecast third-quarter results below Wall Street estimates.
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Former Bayer AG exec to plead guilty
May 16 2005 4:10PM (CT)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Former Bayer AG executive Wolfgang Koch will plead guilty to colluding in a price-fixing scheme that drove up the cost of rubber chemicals used to make tires, outdoor furniture and shoes in the United States during a three-year period, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
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Warner Music loss narrows on online sales
May 16 2005 3:59PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Warner Music Group Corp. on Monday reported a narrower loss for the latest quarter, as the newly public company credited growth in its online business.
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Strike shuts down Finnish paper industry
May 16 2005 3:48PM (CT)
HELSINKI, Finland (AP) - Thousands of workers shut down the Finnish paper industry in a nationwide strike Monday, after labor talks between unions and forest industry employers broke down this weekend.
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Pulitzer schedules June meeting for buyout
May 16 2005 3:44PM (CT)
ST. LOUIS (AP) - Pulitzer Inc. has asked its shareholders to convene next month in New York City to decide the company's planned $1.46 billion buyout by fellow publisher Lee Enterprises Inc.
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Workers at Boston utility go on strike
May 16 2005 3:43PM (CT)
BOSTON (AP) - About 2,000 linemen and engineers at electric and gas utility NStar went on strike early Monday after negotiators failed to reach a new contract agreement.
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Indonesia to seek out-of-court settlement
May 16 2005 3:39PM (CT)
JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP) - Indonesia will press ahead with plans to charge six executives from U.S gold producer Newmont Mining Corp. over alleged pollution, but is willing to negotiate an out-of-court settlement in its $133.6 million lawsuit stemming from the case, the economics minister said Monday.
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XM radio surpasses 4 million subscribers
May 16 2005 3:36PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - XM Satellite Radio Holdings Inc. said Monday it had surpassed the 4 million subscriber mark and was on track to hit its goal of 5.5 million subscribers by the end of the year.
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Varig to hold talks on rescue plan terms
May 16 2005 2:29PM (CT)
SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) - Brazil's flagship airline Varig is negotiating terms of a rescue plan with Portugal's state-owned airline to prevent the South American carrier from getting crushed by debt, the companies said Monday.
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CFO: Loan forgiveness not in Tyco minutes
May 16 2005 2:10PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Mark H. Swartz, Tyco International Ltd.'s former chief financial officer, conceded Monday that the company's compensation-committee minutes don't mention millions of dollars in loan forgiveness he and L. Dennis Kozlowski, Tyco's ex-chief executive, received as a bonus in fiscal 2000.
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Portugal budget deficit worse than thought
May 16 2005 2:08PM (CT)
LISBON Portugal (AP) - The governor of the Bank of Portugal said Monday that the country's budget deficit was worse than predicted but did not offer any figures.
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Ex-portfolio manager describes late trades
May 16 2005 1:47PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - A former hedge-fund executive testified Monday in the criminal trial of former Bank of America Corp. broker Theodore C. Sihpol that he worked closely with Sihpol in an arrangement that let the hedge fund trade after the market close while getting that day's price for fund shares.
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'Salaryman' tops Japan's taxpayers list
May 16 2005 1:41PM (CT)
TOKYO (AP) - He's the Japanese everyman, cramming himself into crowded commuter trains, working 18-hour days and buying lunch from an allowance doled out by his wife. And his tax bill is the nation's highest: a 46-year-old worker at an investment company paid more than $34 million in income tax in 2004.
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Base closing chairman resigns from post
May 16 2005 1:07PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Anthony Principi, chairman of the commission that will review the newly released list of military base closings, has resigned his executive post with Pfizer Inc., the world's biggest drug company.
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Greenpeace protesters arrested at plant
May 16 2005 1:01PM (CT)
LONDON (AP) - Protesters from environmental action group Greenpeace were arrested Monday after disrupting production at Land Rover's central England production plant.
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Spain's Telefonica posts profit increase
May 16 2005 12:15PM (CT)
MADRID, Spain (AP) - Spanish telecommunications company Telefonica SA reported a 36 percent jump in first-quarter profit Monday, driven by a reduction in staff costs and growth in high-speed Internet access in Spain.
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Detroit Free Press review finds problems
May 16 2005 12:08PM (CT)
DETROIT (AP) - A review of more than 600 columns by Detroit Free Press columnist Mitch Albom turned up no pattern of inaccuracies but did find the best-selling author sometimes used quotes from other news outlets without credit, the paper reported Monday.
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KB Toys hopes to emerge from Chapter 11
May 16 2005 11:08AM (CT)
PITTSFIELD, Mass. (AP) - KB Toys Inc. said Monday it expects to emerge from bankruptcy protection before the holiday shopping season without having to close additional stores or to cut more jobs under an agreement that would put the chain under control of a New York City investment firm.
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Riggs Bank apologizes to Banco de Chile
May 16 2005 10:37AM (CT)
SANTIAGO, Chile (AP) - Riggs Bank has apologized to Banco de Chile SA for its handling of financial assets held by former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet.
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Wary investors sizing up Boise Cascade
May 16 2005 10:00AM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - There's a surefire recipe for IPO disaster circulating on Wall Street this spring: Take a quick private-equity turnaround, mix in lots of debt, and award most of the proceeds to the prior owners.
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China tries to reassure trading partners
May 16 2005 9:22AM (CT)
BEIJING (AP) - President Hu Jintao tried Monday to reassure China's trading partners that its growing economic might is a benign force for global prosperity, promising to open its markets more widely to foreign competitors and better protect intellectual property.
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Parmalat says profitability, revenue up
May 16 2005 9:17AM (CT)
MILAN, Italy (AP) - Parmalat Finanziaria SpA said Monday profitability and revenue at the almost bankrupt Italian dairy group's core businesses grew in the first quarter of 2005.
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N.Y. Fed's May manufacturing index falls
May 16 2005 9:13AM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - The Federal Reserve Bank of New York said Monday that manufacturing in its district fell in May to its lowest level since April 2003, although the outlook for the sector remained positive.
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AIG to pay board members' legal fees
May 16 2005 8:23AM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Embattled insurance company American International Group Inc. said Monday it will pay the attorney fees and other legal costs its directors may incur in connection with any pending lawsuit or legal matters.
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Berkshire: 2 insurance workers put on leave
May 16 2005 8:16AM (CT)
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Two insurance employees have been placed on paid leave effective Monday as federal officials conduct probes into insurance practices, billionaire investor Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc. said.
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Sun, Microsoft join forces on ID management
May 16 2005 8:06AM (CT)
PALO ALTO, Calif. (AP) - Former archenemies Sun Microsystems Inc. and Microsoft Corp. marked the first anniversary of their historic detente by unveiling a series of measures to improve how their products work together.
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GlaxoSmithKline delays filing of new drug
May 16 2005 7:42AM (CT)
LONDON (AP) - Drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline PLC said Monday that it will delay filing a new drug application with U.S. authorities for its breast cancer drug Lapatinib until late 2006 or early 2007, based on Phase III trials now in progress.
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China's PM rejects pressure on yuan
May 16 2005 7:25AM (CT)
BEIJING (AP) - Prime Minister Wen Jiabao on Monday rejected mounting foreign pressure for China to raise the state-set value of its currency, saying Beijing will decide on its own when to change its exchange rates.
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Macau OKs land for City of Dreams resort
May 16 2005 6:59AM (CT)
HONG KONG (AP) - The battle for casino supremacy in Macau has moved to a new frontier. The Macau government has tentatively agreed to grant land for the "City of Dreams" resort, featuring an underwater casino hall with a capacity of 450 gaming tables and 3,000 slot machines, one of its developers, Melco International Development Ltd. said in a statement.
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Benetton's 1Q profit dips 17 percent
May 16 2005 6:46AM (CT)
MILAN, Italy (AP) - Benetton Group SpA said its earnings fell 17 percent in the first quarter as the Italian clothing company invested in its retail network even as sales slipped.
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Rise in China's consumer price index slows
May 16 2005 6:27AM (CT)
SHANGHAI, China (AP) - China's consumer price index, the country's main measure of inflation, rose by 1.8 percent in April from a year earlier, the government said Monday, the smallest increase since October 2003.
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Report: US Airways, America West near loan
May 16 2005 6:06AM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - As they discuss a possible merger, US Airways and America West are near a deal for a $250 million loan from Airbus as part of a 20-jet order for the aircraft maker's new A350 model, according to a newspaper report.
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Heads of Toyota, GM meet amid speculation
May 16 2005 5:41AM (CT)
TOKYO (AP) - The heads of Toyota and General Motors have met in a courtesy call that reaffirmed a longtime partnership but stopped short of producing any new deals on technology, a Toyota spokesman said Monday.
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Khodorkovsky team: verdict likely guilty
May 16 2005 5:33AM (CT)
MOSCOW (AP) - A judge began reading the verdict Monday in the politically charged trial of Mikhail Khodorkovsky _ the most closely watched courtroom proceedings of post-Soviet Russia _ and the oil tycoon's defense team said the form of the reading indicated he would be found guilty.
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Nissan, GM head vehicle quality survey
May 16 2005 3:34AM (CT)
DETROIT (AP) - Nissan Motor Co. and General Motors Corp. were the top performers in a new survey of vehicle quality, with satisfied owners praising power and styling.
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