Tribune indicated that if Sam Zell made a high enough offer, it would be prepared to sell its media empire to him.

AirTran Holdings is said to be planning to raise its hostile bid for the Midwest Air Group a third time, to $15 a share.

The X Prize Foundation is expected to announce a competition to develop a commercially viable car that can travel 100 miles on a gallon of gasoline.

A Taiwanese man is devoting himself to distributing free Chinese translations of material from a Massachusetts Institute of Technology Web site.

Maytag will introduce Clay Jackson, who has been a real estate agent in Virginia, as the new Maytag repairman.

Former colleagues of ?American Idol? contestant LaKisha Jones held up placards that included a corporate bank logo which is forbidden under the show?s rules.

A Wired magazine reporter was accidentally sent a memorandum written by the company?s public relations firm to coach Microsoft executives on how to handle his questions.

AT&T said it was in negotiations to buy a major stake in Italy?s largest telecommunications company, Telecom Italia.

Staff at CVRD-Inco?s Sudbury nickel-mining operations are on strike after last-minute contract talks broke off.

More musicians have made product placement deals for videos in the last few years.

The Public Radio Exchange is holding an online contest to find a new national radio star.

Peer-to-peer networks yielded five billion downloads in 2006, whereas 509 million songs were downloaded from iTunes-style services.

Canada introduced legislation that would grant the Vancouver committee rights to the word ?winter? and other words associated with the Olympics.

Ford Motor Drops.

The Treasury?s schedule of financing this week included today?s regular weekly auction of new three- and six-month bills and an auction of four-week bills tomorrow.

The US and South Korea reach a landmark free trade agreement, after 10 months of intensive talks.

Reuters - Japanese corporate sentiment worsened for the first time in a year amid growing concerns about the outlook for the U.S. economy and uncertainty over future oil price and yen movements, a Bank of Japan survey showed on Monday.

Business confidence dips slightly in Japan but analysts say its economic recovery remains on track.

Northern Rock expects the UK mortgage market to continue to expand in 2007, despite the recent interest rate rises.

Carphone Warehouse is investing an extra £10-15m to improve customer service at its broadband division.

Celesio, the German owner of the Lloyds pharmacy chain, refuses to comment on whether it may bid for Alliance Boots.

Reuters - Credit-card and payment processor First Data Corp. has agreed to be acquired by private equity firm Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. for about $29 billion cash, but plans to actively seek other bids.

Reuters - AirTran Holdings Inc. , the parent company of AirTran Airways, said on Monday it increased its offer to purchase the outstanding shares of Midwest Air Group to $15 per Midwest share, based on the closing price of AirTran common stock on March 30, 2007.

Credit card company First Data Corp is the latest firm on private equity's shopping list.

Authorities in China are reportedly investigate claims that foreign fast-food chains have been underpaying staff.

Tesco denies that it excessively dominates the UK grocery market, saying most people can choose to visit one of its rivals.

Sam Zell prevailed in bidding for the company that owns the L.A. Times and the Chicago Tribune.

The private equity giant KKR acquired one of the nation?s first and largest credit-card processing companies.

The United States sealed its biggest pact since the North American Free Trade Agreement in 1994.

Apple and EMI will sell songs without copy protection, in a major change to the way most people buy music online.

Migration into OECD countries rose sharply in 2004 with the US receiving the highest number of foreigners, a report says.

US regulators accuse a married couple of insider trading before the $45bn takeover of energy firm TXU.

The rate of growth in UK manufacturing activity slowed slightly in March, a report indicates.

The amount of money people are borrowing against the value of their homes is rising, figures show.

Indian outsourcing giant Wipro is to start recruiting UK graduates to work with British clients, a report says.

Reuters - Tribune Co. said on Monday it agreed to a bid from Chicago real estate magnate Sam Zell to take it private for $34 a share in a deal structured as an employee stock ownership plan.

EMI is making its digital music catalog available without restrictions on copying, with iTunes as its first outlet.

A group of UK shareholders threaten legal action against Eurotunnel in row over travel discounts.

The firm which owns the Los Angeles Times agrees to be bought by property magnate Sam Zell for $8.2bn.

Business confidence dips slightly in Japan but analysts say its economic recovery remains on track.

British Airways chooses Rolls Royce over its US rival General Electric to power up to eight Boeing 777-200 jets.

Reuters - Tribune Co. said on Monday it agreed to Chicago real estate magnate Sam Zell's bid to take the newspaper publisher and broadcaster private, and it plans to sell the Chicago Cubs after the 2007 baseball season.

Reuters - An index of U.S. manufacturing grew at a slower pace in March than in February, with the inflation component showing a jump and employment contracting, according to a survey published on Monday.

Reuters - U.S. stocks fell on Monday, after a report showing weaker-than-expected March factory activity revived concerns about the economy's health and a rise in inflation.

AP - The nation's manufacturing sector expanded at a slower-than-expected pace in March but still extended its growth spurt into a second month, a trade group said Monday.

NewsFactor - On January 17, the discount retailer TJX reported that its computer system had been hacked and that the intruders obtained access to financial information and driver's licenses dating back as far as 2003. At the time, the company did not disclose the extent to which its customer information had been compromised.

A formerly highflying seller of mortgage loans to buyers with risky credit has crashed to earth.

New Century Financial, one of the largest sub-prime lenders in the US, files for bankruptcy protection.

Ex-CBI boss Lord Turner says it is 'completely untrue' they lobbied for Gordon Brown's 1997 pension tax changes.

The rate of growth in UK manufacturing activity slowed slightly in March, a report indicates.

Reuters - First Data Corp., which processes credit and debit card payments, said it agreed to a takeover by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. for about $26 billion, the second-largest leveraged buyout ever.

Reuters - Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President William Poole said on Monday that a clear monetary policy rule provides a central bank with a powerful tool in its quest for sustainable growth and low unemployment.

Sprint Nextel, which spends $1.2 billion to $1.5 billion a year in advertising, closed a three-month review for creative ad assignments.

German energy giant E.On withdraws its controversial 42.3bn-euro bid for Spanish power company Endesa.

A group of UK shareholders threaten legal action against Eurotunnel in row over travel discounts.

Business confidence dips slightly in Japan amid US worries but analysts say its economic recovery remains on track.

Reuters - Tribune Co. said on Monday it agreed to an $8.2 billion bid by Chicago real estate magnate Sam Zell to take the company private, and it plans to sell the Chicago Cubs after the 2007 baseball season.

Reuters - LSI Logic Corp., a maker of chips for DVD recorders and hard drives, said on Monday that it closed its $3.5 billion purchase of chip maker Agere Systems Inc. and is eyeing job cuts or consolidating facilities to save $125 million in 2008.

The CBI and the Treasury dispute each other's versions of events in a row over a 1997 decision on pension tax changes.

AP - Wall Street managed a moderate advance Monday as a spate of takeover deals gave investors enough confidence to buy into the market despite a report showing that U.S. manufacturing is more sluggish than expected.

Unions at Airbus plants in France call for strike action in protest at the planemaker's job cut plans.

AP - Wall Street managed a moderate advance Monday as a spate of takeover deals gave investors enough confidence to buy into the market despite a report showing that U.S. manufacturing is more sluggish than expected.

Reuters - Australian conglomerate Wesfarmers Ltd. led a A$3 billion ($2.5 billion) raid on Coles Group Ltd. late on Monday, positioning itself for a takeover bid for the struggling retailer, local media reported on Tuesday.

New Century Financial became the biggest, and most prominent, corporate failure in the subprime mortgage business.

The Patent and Trademark Office said the patents for cells held by the University of Wisconsin appeared to be either the same or obvious variations of cells described in previous patents.

Reuters - Australian conglomerate Wesfarmers Ltd. said on Tuesday it has secured voting control over 11.3 percent of struggling retailer Coles Group Ltd. , which has put itself up for sale.

Reuters - Marshall & Ilsley Corp. is nearing an agreement to spin off payment processing unit Metavante Corp., with private equity firm Warburg Pincus at the same time buying a stake in a business valued at about $4 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Monday, citing unnamed sources.

Reuters - A money manager told jurors on Monday that executives at Conrad Black's newspaper publishing company used "very clever but not illegal" ways to funnel money to a Canadian holding company closely controlled by Black.

Reuters - Accounting firm Grant Thornton resigned as auditor for two troubled subprime lenders, the companies said on Monday in separate regulatory filings.

Reuters - RadioShack Corp. was sued on Monday by the Texas Attorney General's office, which charged that the electronics retailer exposed consumers to potential identity theft by dumping data such as addresses and credit-card numbers in a trash bin behind one of its stores.

Tribune has joined forces with Sam Zell to take the company private and pay shareholders $34 a share.

The Los Angeles Times was nothing but trouble for Tribune and it may prove even more of a challenge for Samuel Zell.

Taking Tribune private will ease quarterly earnings pressures but operational challenges will remain.

In a significant shift, EMI will sell songs online through Apple?s music service without copy protection.

A federal judge overturned a verdict in favor of a whistle-blower at the Interior Department who charged that the Kerr-McGee Corporation cheated the government out of millions.

If everything goes perfectly ? and that is a big if ? the airline industry could report record profits this year.

The takeover is the second-largest leveraged buyout ever and the latest in a string of buyouts by Kohlberg Kravis in an era of easily accessible financing.

Comcast and Insight Communications have agreed to end a cable partnership in four states because Comcast wants to add a source of cash flow.

Manufacturing growth slowed more than forecast last month and the cost of raw materials jumped, reinforcing concerns that inflation is not being reduced as the economy cools.

E.On withdrew its offer in exchange for a promise from rival bidders to sell it part of Endesa?s assets.

Xerox will buy Global Imaging Systems, a provider of office technology products, for $1.5 billion.

The low-fare carrier increased its hostile takeover offer for the Midwest Air Group by 13 percent, to $389 million.

A spate of takeover deals outweighed a report showing that manufacturing activity was more sluggish than expected in March.

Starwood Hotels said Steven J. Heyer had resigned, surprising analysts who said the company?s overall strategy was sound.