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Merck to eliminate 7,000 jobs, 5 plants
Nov 28 2005 10:56PM (CT)
TRENTON, N.J. (AP) - Drugmaker Merck & Co., squeezed by Vioxx lawsuits, tumbling revenues and other troubles, is eliminating 7,000 jobs and five production plants and revamping manufacturing in the first phase of a global reorganization. The long-awaited announcement Monday drove Merck shares down more than 4 percent.
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China warns farmers to improve standards
Nov 28 2005 10:48PM (CT)
SHANGHAI, China (AP) - China has warned its farmers and food processors that sales to Japan and the European Union are likely to drop unless they can meet new food import standards that go into effect next year.
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Japanese stocks decline; Dollar recovers
Nov 28 2005 10:47PM (CT)
TOKYO (AP) - Japanese stocks declined Tuesday morning as traders sold technology and auto issues to lock in profits after the market had risen for eight straight sessions to five-year highs. The U.S. dollar recovered some its losses against the yen overnight.
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Kerr-McGee completes Tronox IPO
Nov 28 2005 10:46PM (CT)
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Kerr-McGee Corp. announced Monday it has completed its initial public offering of its chemical subsidiary, Tronox Inc.
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Japan unemployment rate rises in October
Nov 28 2005 9:54PM (CT)
TOKYO (AP) - Japan's unemployment rate rose to 4.5 percent in October, suggesting a slowdown in the job market despite steady improvements in corporate profits, the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said.
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Japan industrial production rises in Oct.
Nov 28 2005 7:21PM (CT)
TOKYO (AP) - Japan's industrial production rose 0.6 percent in October from September, the trade ministry said Tuesday, suggesting that the nation's economy continues to draw support from output growth.
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Exec: Delta unprepared for pilots' strike
Nov 28 2005 7:20PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Delta Air Lines Inc., which lost $2.6 billion in the first nine months of this year, needs the $3 billion in annual cost savings from its reorganization plan to survive, chief financial officer Edward Bastian told a bankruptcy court on Monday. He also said the company is not prepared for a strike by pilots and that such a strike would be "devastating."
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Ohio plant to build new Dodge Nitro SUV
Nov 28 2005 7:00PM (CT)
TOLEDO, Ohio (AP) - DaimlerChrysler AG will produce its new mid-sized sport utility vehicle _ the 2007 Dodge Nitro _ at its Jeep assembly plant in Toledo next year, adding a third shift and building the Nitro alongside the Jeep Liberty.
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Venezuela, Italy begin new trade talks
Nov 28 2005 6:36PM (CT)
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Venezuela and Italy inaugurated a bilateral trade council Monday aimed at strengthening financial, commercial and technological ties.
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Venezuela sells $3 billion worth of bonds
Nov 28 2005 6:19PM (CT)
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) - Venezuela's government said Monday that it sold close to $3 billion worth of bonds in its latest debt offering amid strong demand.
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MasterCard shareholders approve proposals
Nov 28 2005 5:56PM (CT)
PURCHASE, N.Y. (AP) - MasterCard Inc. Monday said more than 90 percent of shareholder votes were cast in favor of the company's new ownership and governance structure, paving the way for the company's initial public offering.
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Toll Brothers to build homes in W.Va.
Nov 28 2005 5:55PM (CT)
CHARLESTON, W.Va. (AP) - Luxury home builder Toll Brothers Inc. announced Monday its plans to build nearly 900 homes in West Virginia's Eastern Panhandle to tap into a growing number of people who work near Washington, D.C., but who don't want to live along the Beltway.
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Monday's commodities roundup
Nov 28 2005 5:54PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Crude-oil futures in New York sank more than a dollar at Monday's settlement, as unseasonably warm U.S. weather dragged refined-product prices down to multimonth lows.
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Sales of existing homes drop in October
Nov 28 2005 5:50PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Sales of existing homes fell a bigger-than-expected 2.7 percent in October, a fresh sign that the red-hot housing market is cooling. The decline would have been worse without increased demand from displaced hurricane victims.
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Rates on Treasury bills mixed at auction
Nov 28 2005 5:44PM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Interest rates on short-term Treasury bills were mixed in Monday's auction with the three-month bill dipping to the lowest level in three weeks.
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American Pharmaceutical to buy shareholder
Nov 28 2005 5:37PM (CT)
SCHAUMBURG, Ill. (AP) - American Pharmaceutical Partners Inc. said Monday it is buying its largest shareholder, privately held American BioScience Inc., for stock worth about $4.1 billion, creating a biopharmaceutical company with annual revenue of more than $500 million.
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Royal Ahold to pay $1.1B to settle suit
Nov 28 2005 5:35PM (CT)
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) - Royal Ahold NV, which owns the Stop & Shop and Giant supermarket chains in the United States along with other retail operations worldwide, said Monday it has agreed to pay $1.1 billion to settle a class action lawsuit brought by U.S. shareholders after its 2003 accounting scandal.
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BP to raise investment in energy projects
Nov 28 2005 5:30PM (CT)
LONDON (AP) - BP PLC said Monday it will increase its investment in alternative energy projects through a new business unit, BP Alternative Energy.
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Constellation raises Vincor bid to $1B
Nov 28 2005 5:28PM (CT)
ROCHESTER, N.Y. (AP) - Constellation Brands Inc., the world's biggest wine company, said Monday it was raising its hostile takeover bid for Canadian winemaker Vincor International Inc. by more than 6 percent to $1 billion but said the Vincor board had rejected an even higher offer.
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Judge sets trial date for next Vioxx case
Nov 28 2005 5:16PM (CT)
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) - A lawyer who helped a Texas widow win a $253 million verdict in the nation's first Vioxx trial is going up against Merck & Co. again, this time in a New Jersey courtroom.
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Correction: Nov. 15 Stanford Gift story
Nov 28 2005 5:12PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - In a Nov. 15 story about a $30 million donation to Stanford University's Graduate School of Business by Anne T. and Robert M. Bass, The Associated Press incorrectly described the donors and date of a previous $25 million gift. That donation came from both Anne and Robert Bass, and was made in June 1991, not June 1992. The corrected version of the story appears below.
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First Data CEO Charles Fote retires
Nov 28 2005 5:10PM (CT)
GREENWOOD VILLAGE, Colo. (AP) - First Data Corp. said Monday its chief executive officer was retiring just weeks after the credit card transaction services company said it would consider options for its struggling card-issuing business. First Data's stock rose almost 5 percent to a 52-week high.
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Delphi reports progress in talks with GM
Nov 28 2005 4:47PM (CT)
DETROIT (AP) - Delphi Corp., which filed for bankruptcy last month, said Monday it's making progress in restructuring talks with General Motors Corp. and will delay an effort to reject its union contracts.
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Oil prices drop on mild Northeast weather
Nov 28 2005 4:42PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Mild weather across the northeastern states sent crude futures sliding more than $1 a barrel Monday as the unseasonable temperatures quelled worries about greater fuel demand this winter.
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Federated Investors to settle charges
Nov 28 2005 2:56PM (CT)
ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) - Federated Investors Inc., one of the nation's largest investment managers, has agreed to pay $100 million to settle state and federal charges that it allowed favored clients to benefit from mutual fund trades at the expense of other investors, New York Attorney General Eliot Spitzer and U.S. regulators said Monday.
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Pa. food vendor pleads guilty to charge
Nov 28 2005 2:40PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - A Pennsylvania supermarket vendor pleaded guilty in federal court in Manhattan on Monday to a conspiracy charge in connection with an alleged multimillion-dollar accounting fraud at a unit of Dutch retailer Royal Ahold NV.
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CBOT stock down on bearish analysts' views
Nov 28 2005 2:27PM (CT)
CHICAGO (AP) - Shares in the nation's two largest futures exchanges were down sharply Monday as investors increasingly question whether the companies' fundamentals justify their current stock prices.
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Argentina's Lavagna leaves cabinet
Nov 28 2005 2:25PM (CT)
BUENOS AIRES, Argentina (AP) - Roberto Lavagna, the independent economist who played a key role in the recovery of Argentina from an unprecedented recession three years ago, has left his post, the government reported Monday.
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Digital River down on Microsoft plan
Nov 28 2005 2:04PM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Digital River Inc. stock fell Monday after Microsoft Corp. announced it will begin providing companies with free software deployment tools, which could limit the growth of a deployment deal between the two companies.
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ThyssenKrupp makes Dofasco a counteroffer
Nov 28 2005 1:24PM (CT)
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) - German steelmaker ThyssenKrupp AG said Monday it has made a friendly offer to acquire Canadian steel company Dofasco Inc. for $4.1 billion, trumping an offer from Luxembourg's Arcelor SA.
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Former 7-Eleven executive returns as CEO
Nov 28 2005 12:38PM (CT)
DALLAS (AP) - An executive who left 7-Eleven Inc. eight months ago to join a video-game company is returning to the convenience-store giant this week as chief executive.
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Gazprom calls on Ukraine to sign contract
Nov 28 2005 12:32PM (CT)
MOSCOW (AP) - Russia's natural gas monopoly, OAO Gazprom on Monday offered to sign a contract with Ukraine under which it would receive European rates for the transit of Russian gas to Western Europe while negotiations continue on the price paid by Ukraine for its own gas imports.
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British bankers begin High Court appeal
Nov 28 2005 12:28PM (CT)
LONDON (AP) - Three British bankers began an appeal in the High Court on Monday against their extradition to the United States on Enron-related fraud charges.
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Official: No tax breaks for James Hardie
Nov 28 2005 12:08PM (CT)
CANBERRA, Australia (AP) - The government would not provide tax breaks to building materials manufacturer James Hardie Industries as part of a deal to provide compensation to victims of lung diseases caused by the company's asbestos, a senior minister said Monday.
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Pomeroy IT names Gregory new CFO
Nov 28 2005 12:03PM (CT)
HEBRON, Ky. (AP) - Pomeroy IT Solutions Inc., which recently missed a financial filing deadline, Monday said it has named a new chief financial officer, effective Jan. 3.
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Top Paris hotels fined for illegal cartel
Nov 28 2005 11:51AM (CT)
PARIS (AP) - France's competition watchdog fined six top Paris hotels, including the Ritz and the Crillon, for operating an illegal cartel, the Competition Council said in a statement Monday.
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Copa Airlines files for IPO of up to $238M
Nov 28 2005 11:22AM (CT)
WASHINGTON (AP) - Copa Holdings SA, the Panama-based parent of Copa Airlines, filed an initial public offering Monday that could be worth up to $238 million.
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TeliaSonera takes action vs. Alfa Group
Nov 28 2005 11:19AM (CT)
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) - TeliaSonera AB, the Nordic region's largest telecommunications company, said Monday it is suing Russian rival Alfa Group in an ongoing battle over control of the Turkish mobile-phone company Turkcell.
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Brown announces cuts to red tape for cos.
Nov 28 2005 11:07AM (CT)
LONDON (AP) - British Treasury chief Gordon Brown announced a series of measures cutting costly and contentious company laws on Monday, stepping up his wooing of big businesses that have become increasingly disenchanted with the ruling Labor Party's policies.
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HSBC Chairman John Bond to resign in May
Nov 28 2005 11:07AM (CT)
LONDON (AP) - Banking group HSBC Holdings PLC announced Monday that Chairman John Bond will resign in May after seven years in the position and he will be replaced current Chief Executive Stephen Green.
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Airbus: airline signs letter of intent
Nov 28 2005 10:09AM (CT)
PARIS (AP) - European aircraft-maker Airbus SAS said a new private Chinese airline, East Star Airlines, on Monday signed a letter of intent to purchase 10 of Airbus' A320 passenger jets and agreed to lease 10 more from GE Commercial Aviation Service.
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Volvo Cars announces 1,470 job cuts
Nov 28 2005 9:36AM (CT)
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) - Volvo cars on Monday said it will cut 1,470 jobs worldwide, which is at the high end of a previously announced target range.
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Indian official: gov't must open economy
Nov 28 2005 9:28AM (CT)
NEW DELHI (AP) - The Indian government hopes to open the economy more to foreign competition despite opposition from powerful leftist allies, a senior government official said Monday.
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Report: exec opposes sector unionization
Nov 28 2005 8:18AM (CT)
NEW DELHI (AP) - The chairman of Wipro Ltd., a top Indian software exporter, says he is opposed to unionization of India's information technology sector, according to a news report published Monday.
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China vows to work to trim trade surplus
Nov 28 2005 7:41AM (CT)
SHANGHAI, China (AP) - China plans to boost imports and promote more investment overseas, the government says, vowing to do more to counter a surging trade surplus and calm friction with trading partners.
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Swiss vote to tighten biotech food curbs
Nov 28 2005 7:06AM (CT)
BERN, Switzerland (AP) - Swiss voters have approved a referendum to tighten curbs on genetically modified farm products, a divisive topic in a country that already prohibits most of such technology from being used in agriculture.
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Novartis to sell dietary food business
Nov 28 2005 6:59AM (CT)
BASEL, Switzerland (AP) - Novartis AG said Monday it will sell its dietary food business to ABN Amro Capital for about $260 million as it focuses on its pharmaceutical and health care businesses.
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German consumer sentiment declines
Nov 28 2005 6:32AM (CT)
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) - The forecast for German consumer sentiment for December fell due to concerns about high unemployment and uncertainty about the new government's plans to reform the economy, market research group GfK said Monday.
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Report: Merck announcing major restructure
Nov 28 2005 6:31AM (CT)
NEW YORK (AP) - Merck & Co. Inc. may cut thousands of jobs and enact other changes as part of a major restructuring plan the pharmaceutical maker was expected to announce this week, according to a published report.
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Malaysia urges WTO to drop farm row
Nov 28 2005 5:27AM (CT)
KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia (AP) - Malaysia's trade minister on Monday urged WTO countries to temporarily set aside the thorny issue of agricultural trade liberalization and forge ahead with opening up global trade in other sectors.
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Toyota launches subcompact sedan in Japan
Nov 28 2005 5:22AM (CT)
TOKYO (AP) - Toyota Motor Corp. is launching the Belta, a new subcompact sedan, next month and is also considering exporting it, the automaker said Monday.
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Small shareholder dairies run afoul
Nov 28 2005 3:19AM (CT)
VASHON ISLAND, Wash. (AP) - Kelsey Kozack's kitchen is a dairy wonderland. Fresh cheese, yogurt and milk abound, all compliments of Iris, a gentle tan cow who grazes the family's seven-acre property.
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