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Northwest mechanics roll toward strike
Aug 19 2005 11:49PM (CT)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Northwest Airlines and its mechanics rolled toward a strike Friday with little apparent hope for avoiding a walkout. Union officials said mechanics were ordered off company property at the carrier's two main hubs.
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Vioxx jurors sought to send a message
Aug 19 2005 9:01PM (CT)
ANGLETON, Texas (AP) - Jurors who found Merck & Co. liable Friday for the death of a Texas man said they expected pharmaceutical companies to get the message from their $253.4 million verdict that consumers need safe drugs.
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Delta pilots warned of falling cash level
Aug 19 2005 9:00PM (CT)
ATLANTA (AP) - Delta Air Lines Inc. has warned its pilots union that the struggling carrier's cash reserves have fallen to the point where the company could seek to revise the agreement the two sides reached last year to avoid a bankruptcy filing at that time.
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N.C. court: Tobacco cos. must pay growers
Aug 19 2005 8:25PM (CT)
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) - Cigarette makers must pay $424 million to tobacco growers in 14 states as part of an agreement reached in the wake of 1998's multibillion-dollar anti-smoking settlement, North Carolina's Supreme Court ruled Friday.
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Merck loss likely to increase lawsuits
Aug 19 2005 7:05PM (CT)
ANGLETON, Texas (AP) - The huge jury award to a plaintiff in the nation's first Vioxx case is likely to inspire thousands more suits on top of the 4,200 already filed against the drug's marker Merck & Co. and push liability estimates that reach $18 billion even higher, analysts said.
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Justice opposes airline antitrust immunity
Aug 19 2005 6:41PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Justice Department on Friday opposed antitrust immunity for Delta Air Lines, Northwest Airlines and several European carriers, saying there is a significant risk that an arrangement between the airlines would hurt competition.
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Qwest union sets contract vote deadline
Aug 19 2005 4:36PM (CT)
DENVER (AP) - The Communications Workers of America has set a Sept. 30 deadline for nearly 25,000 Qwest Communications employees to vote on a tentative contract agreement.
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Gov't proposes new car roof crush standard
Aug 19 2005 4:33PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Automakers would have to build stronger roofs for big SUVs and pickup trucks under rules proposed Friday to protect people in rollover crashes.
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Merck shares fall after found liable
Aug 19 2005 4:32PM (CT)
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - Shares of Merck & Co. fell Friday immediately after a Texas jury found the pharmaceutical giant liable in the first trial involving a death linked to its Vioxx painkiller. The man's widow was awarded $253.4 million in damages.
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Friday's Commodities Roundup
Aug 19 2005 3:57PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Oil prices jumped more than $2 and closed above $65 a barrel Friday, pushed by Middle East terror fears and a production outage in Ecuador.
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Oil prices climb nearly $2 per barrel
Aug 19 2005 3:45PM (CT)
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) - Oil prices rose more than $2 a barrel on Friday, bouncing back from a dip earlier this week as markets reacted to a fire at a massive refining complex in Venezuela and developments in Ecuador, where protesters had forced a halt to production.
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Weekly rig count up by four
Aug 19 2005 3:37PM (CT)
HOUSTON (AP) - The number of rigs actively exploring for oil and natural gas in the United States increased by four this week to 1,433.
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Correction: Fortune-ACCO-Brands story
Aug 19 2005 3:03PM (CT)
LINCOLNSHIRE, Ill. (AP) - In a story sent Aug. 17 about Fortune Brands' spinoff of its office products subsidiary, creating ACCO Brands as a new publicly traded company, The Associated Press erroneously reported that Fortune Brands' stock fell $3.23 Wednesday to close at $87.80.
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Home Depot announces executive changes
Aug 19 2005 2:56PM (CT)
ATLANTA (AP) - The Home Depot Inc., the nation's largest home-improvement store chain, said Friday its merchandising chief is leaving the company, and the man who was to head the company's expansion to China is retiring.
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Brazilian stocks and currency sink
Aug 19 2005 2:10PM (CT)
SAO PAULO, Brazil (AP) - Brazilian stocks sank and the country's currency fell sharply against the dollar Friday amid allegations the architect of the nation's market-friendly economic policy arranged kickbacks for the ruling Workers Party when he was a small city mayor in the mid-1990s.
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Bigger cruise ships causing some trouble
Aug 19 2005 1:47PM (CT)
MIAMI (AP) - Cruise lines have been battling for decades to outclass their competitors' ships by making vessels longer, bigger and full of amenities like mall-size promenades and ice skating rinks. What started as small refurbished ferries with little to do onboard have turned into vessels bigger than aircraft carriers.
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Ecuador security forces retake oil wells
Aug 19 2005 1:39PM (CT)
QUITO, Ecuador (AP) - Soldiers regained control of a number of oil wells in the northeastern Amazon on Friday, allowing state-run oil company Petroecuador to recover some of its output after protesters demanding a greater share of oil wealth ground production to a halt, officials said.
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KB Toys wins bankruptcy plan's approval
Aug 19 2005 12:53PM (CT)
PITTSFIELD, Mass. (AP) - KB Toys Inc. said Friday it expects to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection by month's end under new ownership and with two former Toys R Us presidents on its new management team.
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EU quotas criticized as stockpiles mount
Aug 19 2005 12:38PM (CT)
PARIS (AP) - Barred Chinese clothing shipments are piling up at European ports, prompting warnings of retail stock shortages and higher store prices just weeks after the EU moved to stem an import surge deemed a threat to jobs.
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Vector-led group files suit over settlement
Aug 19 2005 12:33PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Cigarette-maker Vector Group Ltd. has filed a suit against the state of Kentucky for allegedly violating the tobacco industry's landmark 1998 settlement by giving preferential treatment to another tobacco company.
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Agency tells Coca-Cola to shut India plant
Aug 19 2005 12:18PM (CT)
COCHIN, India (AP) - The pollution control head of India's southern Kerala state said Friday he has ordered Coca Cola Co. to close one of its largest bottling plants in the country for failing to comply with environmental regulations.
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Maytag to lay off 200 workers at plant
Aug 19 2005 12:13PM (CT)
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Maytag Corp. said Friday it will lay off 200 workers at its flagship laundry plant next month, reducing the work force to its lowest levels in nearly 60 years.
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AnnTaylor's 2Q profit falls on weak sales
Aug 19 2005 12:08PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Women's clothing retailer AnnTaylor Stores Corp. on Friday posted a sharp drop in second-quarter profit, hurt by weak sales at its flagship stores and one-time costs from moving its corporate headquarters.
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Beverly to look at second bid of $1.91B
Aug 19 2005 11:57AM (CT)
FORT SMITH, Ark. (AP) - Nursing home operator Beverly Enterprises Inc. announced Friday it received a higher bid of $1.91 billion from a private investor group, forcing the original high bidder to decide whether to submit another proposal to buy the company by Tuesday.
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Prosecutors extend Volkswagen probe
Aug 19 2005 11:00AM (CT)
HANNOVER, Germany (AP) - German prosecutors said Friday they have expanded their investigation of automaker Volkswagen AG to include the former head of its works council.
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British Airways to resume serving hot food
Aug 19 2005 8:55AM (CT)
LONDON (AP) - British Airways said Friday it would resume serving hot meals on long-haul flights that were affected by a catering dispute that triggered worker strikes, leading to thousands of stranded passengers.
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Google plans to raise $4B in stock sale
Aug 19 2005 8:52AM (CT)
SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - Google Inc. plans to sell another 14.2 million shares, raising about $4 billion, but the search-engine company isn't providing many clues about how it will spend the money.
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Ex-Sun-Times publisher charged with fraud
Aug 19 2005 8:33AM (CT)
CHICAGO (AP) - Former Chicago Sun-Times publisher David Radler is cooperating with federal prosecutors in their investigation of $32 million that allegedly was fraudulently pocketed by him and others through a series of secret deals.
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Hartigan appointed chairman of News Ltd.
Aug 19 2005 8:08AM (CT)
SYDNEY (AP) - News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch said Friday that John Hartigan will become chairman of the group's Australian business, News Ltd., replacing Murdoch's son Lachlan.
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Ivana Trump unveils condos for Las Vegas
Aug 19 2005 7:33AM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - A $35 million, 20,000 square foot penthouse may not be everyone's idea of a starter home, but Ivana Trump hopes celebrities will snap it up. After all, she says, real estate is a good bet for anyone.
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India's Wadia group plans low-cost airline
Aug 19 2005 7:22AM (CT)
BANGALORE, India (AP) - Indian industrial conglomerate Wadia group, best known for its textile brand Bombay Dyeing, will launch a low-cost airline in October and is in talks with Airbus and Boeing Co. to buy 50 new jets over the next five to seven years, an official said Friday.
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Norsk Hydro makes promising gas find
Aug 19 2005 5:48AM (CT)
OSLO, Norway (AP) - Norsk Hydro ASA on Friday announced a promising natural gas strike with a wildcat well drilling a previously untried area in the northern North Sea.
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Do-it-yourself dairies may lose exemption
Aug 19 2005 5:20AM (CT)
SILVERTON, Ore. (AP) - When Bob Mallorie started his dairy five decades ago on this land surrounded by corn fields, he milked the cows, bottled the milk, then jumped behind the wheel of his truck to deliver the fresh bottles.
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Newmont wants pollution case dismissed
Aug 19 2005 5:19AM (CT)
MANADO, Indonesia (AP) - The world's largest gold producer urged a court Friday to drop charges against its American director in Indonesia, saying a police investigation that showed dangerous levels of toxins in a bay near its now-defunct mine was flawed.
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Japanese stocks fall; dollar rises vs. yen
Aug 19 2005 4:35AM (CT)
TOKYO (AP) - Japanese stocks fell Friday as the market took a breather from recent gains, with traders selling steel and real estate issues. The dollar was up against the yen.
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Vioxx jury ends first day of deliberations
Aug 19 2005 4:23AM (CT)
ANGLETON, Texas (AP) - Jurors in the nation's first Vioxx-related civil trial ended their first day of deliberation after seven hours Thursday and were to resume Friday.
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French economic growth slows in 2Q
Aug 19 2005 4:01AM (CT)
PARIS (AP) - The French economy grew at a slower pace in the second quarter than in the first quarter as consumer spending dropped sharply, national statistics agency Insee said Friday.
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Disney investigates alleged labor abuses
Aug 19 2005 4:00AM (CT)
HONG KONG (AP) - The Walt Disney Co. said Friday it has hired an auditor to investigate claims that its Chinese contractors pay workers below minimum wage, demand excessive overtime and cheat labor monitors by faking pay slips.
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Green Party seeks foreign ownership ban
Aug 19 2005 2:45AM (CT)
WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) - New Zealand's minority Green Party wants to ban land sales to overseas investors, saying the country should be reserved for residents, not foreigners who rarely visit the picturesque South Pacific nation.
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China Aviation Oil pays $4.6M penalty
Aug 19 2005 2:41AM (CT)
SINGAPORE (AP) - China Aviation Oil Holding Co. has paid a penalty of 8 million Singapore dollars, or $4.64 million, for violating insider trading laws linked to the near-collapse of its Singapore-based subsidiary, authorities said Friday.
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