A coalition of industrialists, environmentalists and energy specialists is banding together to try to eliminate the incandescent light bulb in about 10 years.

Charles O. Prince was paid $25.98 million for his work in 2006, which represented an increase of about 13 percent increase over 2005.

The agreement between Lenovo, the world?s third-largest PC maker, and Microsoft replaces a similar deal the Chinese computer maker had with Google.

The influential proxy advisory firm Institutional Shareholder Services reversed its stance yesterday and said that it would recommend that shareholders of Caremark Rx support a takeover proposal from the CVS drugstore chain.

GlaxoSmithKline won permission yesterday from the Food and Drug Administration to sell a tumor-growth inhibitor called Tykerb to treat breast cancer.

Reuters - Wellpoint Inc. , a managed care firm, has begun notifying 75,000 members of its Empire Blue Cross and Blue Shield unit in New York that a compact disc holding their vital medical and other personal information had disappeared, The New York Times reported.

Xbox Live, Microsoft?s gaming network that serves some six million Xbox users, is scheduled to be opened to PC gamers on May 8.

J.W. Marriott Jr.?s compensation included perks such as use of the company?s private jet and company paid life insurance and tax services.

The agreement between Lenovo, the world?s third-largest PC maker, and Microsoft replaces a similar deal the Chinese computer maker had with Google.

Stocks plunged yesterday as the Dow Jones industrial average fell more than 240 points and troubles piled up for subprime lenders.

Cadbury Schweppes said a group led by the billionaire Nelson Peltz had ac-quired a 2.98 percent stake in the company, leading to speculation about a takeover. The company?s shares rose more than 10 percent. Mr. Peltz, left, has a record as a shareholder activist, buying stock in companies he sees as undervalued then agitating for change from within, and analysts said the market would be watching closely to see if he tried to gain a seat on the Cadbury board. Cadbury, which is based in London and makes Dairy Milk chocolate, Dr Pepper soft drinks and Trident gum, declined to comment beyond a brief statement to the London Stock Exchange acknowledging the Peltz investment.

An Indian drug maker, Ranbaxy Laboratories, said it had submitted a bid for the generics unit of the German drug maker Merck but did not disclose how much it was offering. Analysts say Merck?s generics unit could be worth as much as 5 billion euros ($6.6 billion). Merck said last month that it had started contacting companies that might be interested in acquiring its generics drugs unit. Two companies, Ranbaxy and the Actavis Group of Iceland, have publicly expressed an interest. Merck is based in Darmstadt.

Aer Lingus reported a loss in 2006 because of a pension fund shortfall, higher fuel prices and the cost of repelling a takeover attempt by Ryanair. Aer Lingus, which found itself under siege by Ryanair almost immediately after listing on the Irish and British stock exchanges in September, reported a net loss of 69.9 million euros ($92 million) for the year that ended Dec. 31, in contrast to a profit of 88.9 million euros in 2005. Exceptional expenses included a 104 million euros ($137 million) payment to the employees? pension fund and 16 million euros ($21 million) to lawyers, stockbrokers and other advisers hired to thwart Ryanair?s bid. Fuel costs also rose by 75 percent, to 234 million euros ($308 million). Sales rose 11.3 percent.

Algoma Steel said it had failed to reach agreement on a takeover by Salzgitter of Germany and had scheduled preliminary discussions with other potential buyers. Algoma said in mid-February that it might be acquired by Salzgitter at a price lower than where the company?s shares were trading at the time. Algoma negotiated with potential buyers in 2005 and renewed negotiations in February 2006 without reaching an agreement.

The Royal Bank of Canada agreed to buy a money manager J. B. Hanauer & Company of New Jersey, in its sixth acquisition in the United States in the last year. Details of the purchase, which is expected to be completed in May, were not disclosed, Royal Bank said. J. B. Hanauer, created in 1931, specializes in fixed-income and wealth management services. The company, based in Parsippany, has five offices in three states, with about 300 employees including 147 financial consultants, and almost $10 billion in assets under administration.

The Intel Corporation has received approval to build a $2.5 billion chip plant in China amid the country?s booming demand for chips used in personal computers and cellphones. The factory is planned for the northeastern city of Dalian, according to the cabinet?s National Development and Reform Commission, the country?s top economic planning agency. Intel officials in Beijing and at the company headquarters in Santa Clara, Calif., declined to comment, saying no formal announcement had been made.

Reuters - China's retail sales in the first two months rose a strong 14.7 percent from a year earlier, reinforcing a trend of sturdy spending buoyed by rising incomes and government steps to spur consumption.

Reuters - Buyout firm Cerberus Capital Management LP has hired Chrysler's former chief operating officer to advise it on a possible bid for the U.S. carmaker, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday.

Reuters - U.S. drugs giant Abbott Laboratories said it would stop launching new medicines in Thailand in protest at the army-backed government's move to override international drug patents.

AP - U.S. Treasury prices rallied Tuesday as stocks lost ground and amid continued worries over the subprime mortgage market. A weaker-than-expected retail sales report also boosted government bonds.

Most markets in Asia fell by between 2 and 3 percent today as concerns over the U.S. housing market spread.

Fears of a US slowdown and mortgage market woes prompt a share slump in Europe, Asia and Wall Street.

General Motors posts a profit for the final three months of 2006, on cost cuts and better performance at its auto unit.

The trial of media tycoon Lord Conrad Black is due to begin at a US federal court in Chicago.

Italy's Romano Prodi is expected to finalise a major gas deal with Russia at a meeting with President Putin.

Shares in Japanese brokerage Nikko Cordial jump by 6% after US banking giant Citigroup raises its takeover offer.

Unemployment falls marginally in the three months to January 2007, continuing its recent downward trend.

Money lying dormant in bank accounts should be used to support groups fighting deprivation, a report says.

Fashion retailer French Connection suffers a sharp fall in annual profits after a 'very disappointing' year.

Reuters - General Motors Corp. said on Wednesday it swung to a profit in the fourth quarter as it cut costs and saw gains in its core auto operations.

Reuters - Buyout firm Cerberus Capital Management LP has hired Chrysler's former chief operating officer to advise it on a possible bid for the U.S. carmaker, a source familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

Reuters - U.S. mortgage applications rose last week, with both new purchases and refinancings driven up by the lowest long-term home loan rates since early December, an industry trade group said on Wednesday.

For all of 2006, the world?s largest automaker reported a $2 billion loss but cited progress in its restructuring.

The OECD is to mount a fresh probe into UK anti-bribery laws following the scrapping of an inquiry into BAE.

Reuters - General Motors Corp. swung to a profit with its delayed fourth-quarter results on Wednesday but fell short of Wall Street expectations as losses from its former finance unit partly offset gains from improved auto operations and cost cutting.

Reuters - The U.S. current account deficit shrank in the fourth quarter of 2006 to its smallest in more than a year as lower oil prices took a bite out of imports and U.S. exports continued to rise, a Commerce Department report showed on Wednesday.

Reuters - Investment bank Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. said on Wednesday first-quarter profit rose 6 percent, as real estate and strong equity markets helped lift trading profits even with weakness in subprime mortgages.

AFP - The dollar fell against the yen, hit by worries over the US housing market and sluggish retail sales, dealers said Wednesday.

Most markets in Asia fell by between 2 and 3 percent today as Wall Street was steady after yesterday?s losses.

The US current account deficit jumped by 8.2% to a record $856.6bn in 2006, figures show.

Italy's Romano Prodi finalises a major gas deal with Russia at a meeting with President Putin.

A consumer group is suing JJB Sports on behalf of fans who were sold overpriced football shirts .

Reuters - Stocks were little changed on Wednesday after comments from Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. kept worries about the mortgage market alive, but investors took the chance to snap up bargains after Tuesday's 2 percent market fall.

Reuters - Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. on Wednesday posted slightly stronger-than expected results, but its shares fell 2.6 percent as investors fretted about the investment bank's subprime mortgage exposure.

Reuters - H&R Block Inc. , the nation's largest tax preparer, on Wednesday said its decision to write down the value of its Option One Mortgage unit, a subprime lender that is up for sale, increased the company's third-quarter net loss by $15.5 million.

Reuters - Bank of America Corp. agreed to pay $26 million to settle regulatory charges that it issued false equity research, and let its own traders misuse analyst reports to generate improper profits.

Reuters - The chairman and chief executive of Home Depot Inc. said on Wednesday that the home improvement retailer had no plans to become a privately owned company.

The F.D.A. ordered makers of commonly used sleep medications to print label warnings about risks and side effects like driving and eating while asleep.

G.M. showed its largest quarterly profit in more than two years as its restructuring plan drastically cut expenses.

Accusing Google and its YouTube site of ?massive copyright infringement,? Viacom said it was seeking more than $1 billion in damages.

Wall Street follows a stocks sell-off in Europe as concerns about the US economy and mortgage industry continue.

Reuters - Former Hewlett-Packard Co. Chairman Patricia Dunn and three other defendants involved in the HP board spying scandal that forced Dunn to resign will plead guilty to a misdemeanor count of fraudulent wire communications, the California Attorney General's office said on Wednesday.

Reuters - National City Corp. , the No. 9 U.S. bank, on Wednesday said it wrote off $11 million stemming from subprime home loans, expects to write off more, and may boost reserves by $50 million because an insurer is rejecting mortgage-related claims.

Reuters - Shareholders of both Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. and Phelps Dodge Corp. approved Freeport's acquisition of Phelps Dodge, the companies said.

AP - The deficit in the broadest measure of trade hit an all-time high in 2006 and for the first time the United States even ran a deficit on investment income.

Reuters - The chairman and chief executive of Home Depot Inc. said on Wednesday the home improvement retailer plans to remain a publicly owned company.

Wall Street shares rebound in afternoon trading after a stocks sell-off prompted by US mortgage concerns.

Cadbury Schweppes is planning to split itself up into two separate businesses - the BBC learns.

Criminal charges are dropped against a former Hewlett Packard chairwoman over a spying scandal.

The trial of media tycoon Lord Conrad Black is due to begin at a US federal court in Chicago.

Reuters - (Corrects headline and paragraphs 1-4 because the California Attorney Generals office said its earlier statement that the defendants would enter guilty pleas was wrong. The Attorney Generals office said the case against Dunn was dismissed and the other defendants entered no contest pleas.)

Reuters - U.S. stocks rebounded on Wednesday as hard-hit financial shares recovered on the view that fears of the subprime mortgage problem spreading were overblown and had left stocks looking inexpensive.

Reuters - Freeport-McMoRan Copper & Gold Inc. and Phelps Dodge Corp. shareholders both overwhelmingly approved Freeport's $25.9 billion acquisition of rival miner Phelps on Wednesday, the companies said.

AFP - Indian business giant Reliance is in advanced tie-up talks with France's Carrefour, a company official said on Wednesday, but the world's second biggest retailer denied it was in negotiations.

Charges against Patricia Dunn were dismissed in the corporate spying case. Three other defendants were ordered to perform community service.

GrandCentral?s motto, ?One number for life,? pretty much says it all.

Most markets in Asia fell by between 2 and 3 percent today as Wall Street fluctuates.

The US announces steps that could allow North Korea to access its frozen funds, one of its key demands.

Jury selection begins in the trial of media tycoon Lord Conrad Black at a US federal court in Chicago.

Reuters - The case against former Hewlett-Packard Co. Chairman Patricia Dunn, who ultimately resigned amid a board-leak spying scandal, was dismissed on Wednesday.

Reuters - U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday, led by hard-hit financial shares as some investors' concerns about the subprime mortgage crisis eased.

Reuters - U.S. builders are assessing their exposure to home buyers with weak credit histories amid a subprime mortgage lender meltdown, while one analyst estimated the figure at 8 to 15 percent of their business on average.

Reuters - Wm. Wrigley Jr. Co. plans to raise prices in the United States by about 10 percent, on average, the chewing gum maker said on Wednesday, sending its shares more than 4 percent higher.

AP - OPEC ministers on Wednesday spoke out against pumping more crude into world markets, suggesting they favored present levels — and prices — despite jittery stock markets and concerns about the health of the global economy.

Google said it would start to make search logs anonymous after 18 to 24 months. Under current practices, the company keeps the logs indefinitely.

Microsoft buys a voice-recognition software firm in a move analysts say could change how people use the internet.

US banana firm Chiquita says it will plead guilty to doing business with a terror group in Colombia.

The economy will perform better this year than previously forecast, the CBI says, although it expects interest rates to rise again soon.

Black and Asian women are ignored by many employers, despite labour shortages, equality watchdogs say.

Reuters - Hours before Hewlett-Packard Co. shareholders convened their annual meeting on Wednesday, a judge dismissed charges against HP's former chairman, Patricia Dunn, for her role in a boardroom spying scandal.

Reuters - There was no sign of financial meltdown on Wednesday at the Southern California office park surrounding New Century Financial Corp. , but neighbors walking by one of the starting points of the mortgage industry crisis shivered at the thought of what could be next.

The F.D.A. ordered makers to print label warnings about risks and side effects like driving and eating while asleep.

Charges against Patricia Dunn were dismissed in the corporate spying case. Three other defendants were ordered to perform community service.

US carmakers say they need help in tackling the challenges the industry is facing set by global warming.

The F.D.A. ordered makers to print label warnings about risks and side effects like driving and eating while asleep.

A judge dropped charges against the former chairman of Hewlett-Packard, Patricia C. Dunn, who was accused of fraud in a boardroom spying scheme.

A coalition of industrial and developing countries is pushing for stringent limits on a popular air-conditioner refrigerant.

While H&R Block?s tax business is showing signs of improvement, it cannot get rid of its subprime mortgage group, Option One, fast enough.

Mohamed El-Erian, head of the $30 billion Harvard Endowment, has brought an international flair and bond expertise to the job.

General Motors reported its largest quarterly profit in two and a half years. But some analysts fear that G.M.?s new products are not adequate to sustain its turnaround.

Nearly all of the jurors in the Conrad M. Black trial confirmed that they knew little of him and the others accused in the trial.

Google is taking steps to make anonymous the logs it keeps of all searches that people conduct.

A missing CD containing confidential medical information on 75,000 Empire Blue Cross and Blue Shield members was recovered.

Antigovernment crusaders are often the biggest obstacles to the achievement of economic efficiency.

Community banks keep financing flowing to local entrepreneurs at a time when mergers have reduced the number of banks.

Wal-Mart?s ambitions into consumer banking may extend beyond what the retail giant had previously disclosed.

The Internet search giant announced that it would build a ?server farm? in North Carolina where land is cheap.

Avon wants to ring billions of doorbells at the same time with the largest campaign in its 121-year history.

Use of the anemia drugs will be reviewed by federal health insurance programs because of concerns that side effects may be harming patients.

Chiquita reached a settlement with the Justice Department over protection payments that it made to terrorist groups in Colombia.

Lower oil prices and increased exports have sent the deficit to its lowest level in more than a year.

The bank will pay $26 million to settle charges that its securities unit published fraudulent research reports on companies.

Robust trading and overseas expansion drove Lehman?s first-quarter profit up 5.6 percent, matching Wall Street?s expectations.

Jeffrey A. McDermott, one of three global heads of investment banking, will leave ?to pursue outside entrepreneurial opportunities.?

Goldman Sachs was fined $2 million by market regulators for allowing clients to make illegal short sales before stock offerings.

The deal to buy Tellme Networks was said to be worth more than $800 million, making it Microsoft?s biggest acquisition since 2002.

Traders and brokers in the region say hedge funds are going to create even more unpredictable gyrations in the future.

Concern about mortgages continues to send stock prices bouncing.

Home Depot said the full board will attend the annual shareholders? meeting.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists is among the finalists announced for the National Magazine Awards, the industry?s most prestigious prize.

Freeport-McMoRan Copper and Gold?s $25.9 billion acquisition of a rival, Phelps Dodge, was approved by shareholders of both companies.

The maker of battlefield communications systems was asked by the S.E.C. for information on past stock option practices.

European Union regulators accused the Nippon Sheet Glass Company, the Asahi Glass Company and two competitors of fixing the price of glass used in construction. Asahi?s Glaverbel unit in Belgium, Nippon Sheet Glass?s Pilkington in Britain, the Guardian Industries Corporation in the United States and Saint-Gobain in France said that they were notified of the accusations and would respond. The companies have two months to reply. The European antitrust authority seized documents at several glassmakers in 2005 after raiding offices in six countries as part of a price-fixing inquiry.

An investment fund of the Macquarie Bank has agreed to buy the car-parking facilities of National Car Parks of Britain for £790 million ($1.52 billion) from a private equity firm, the 3i Group. National Car Parks operates about 850 car parks with about 50,000 spaces, accounting for more than half Britain?s off-street parking market, and is the largest provider of spaces at airports and railway stations. A towing service will be spun off and retained by 3i.

The China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation, Asia?s largest oil refiner, will buy the Hong Kong petroleum products distribution unit of China Resources Enterprise for 4 billion Hong Kong dollars ($511 million). The two companies signed a framework agreement, and the final purchase price remains subject to review, according to China Resources. A formal agreement will be signed in mid-April, the company said. The Beijing-based China Petroleum and Chemical, which is known as Sinopec, is expanding its refining and fuel distribution system to keep pace with the rapidly growing Chinese economy. China Resources, a retailer and brewer, is shedding its oil and chemicals businesses. China Resources and Sinopec both trade in Hong Kong and they are controlled by the Chinese government.

Nokia and Siemens said they planned to begin operating a joint venture phone network on April 1, with both companies having agreed to increase net asset contributions. Siemens will contribute 2.4 billion euros ($3.2 billion), while Nokia will add 1.7 billion euros to the venture, Siemens said. Nokia, based in Finland, and Siemens, based in Germany, agreed in June to merge their phone network units to close the gap with the market leaders, Ericsson and Alcatel-Lucent. The 50-50 venture will have annual sales of about 15.8 billion euros ($20.5 billion).

The Smurfit Kappa Group, Europe?s market leader for cardboard products, raised 1.3 billion euros ($1.72 billion) as it floated shares on the Irish and British stock exchanges. The offering, which valued the Irish-Dutch company at 3.4 billion euros ($4.5 billion), was intended to help Smurfit Kappa reduce more than 4.5 billion euros ($5.9 billion) in debt. The shares were sold at 16.50 euros ($21.78) but rose 5.5 percent in their first hour of trading to 17.40 euros ($22.97). Smurfit Kappa?s chief executive, Gary McGann, above, said that about half the new shareholders would be institutional investors, principally banks and investment houses in the United States.

Time Warner Inc., the media company, withdrew its $900 million offer for TradeDoubler, an Internet advertising company, after failing to win the support of shareholders. The company?s AOL unit scrapped its 215-kronor-a-share bid after the deadline expired today, Time Warner said. Time Warner was seeking to use TradeDoubler to accelerate the growth of online ad sales at its AOL division.

China?s industrial output rose 18.5 percent in January and February, the National Bureau of Statistics said, after gaining 14.7 percent in December. That beat the 15 percent median estimate of 20 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. In February, China?s exports jumped the most they had in 12 years, and domestic sales accelerated. The statistics bureau releases combined industrial output figures for January and February to eliminate distortions from a weeklong Lunar New Year holiday, which straddled both months in 2006 and fell entirely in February this year. The government is trying to boost domestic consumption, seeking more balanced growth for the economy.

The cancelled contract involved a ?fast-response cutter,? which was part of the Coast Guard?s troubled modernization program.

Reuters - A judge dismissed charges against former Hewlett-Packard Co. Chairman Patricia Dunn on Wednesday for her role in a boardroom spying scandal that has shaken a once-proud Silicon Valley company.