The Justice Department said the followers of an antitax advocate have used a tax scheme that he sells to avoid paying $21 million of income taxes.

The chiefs of the merged New York Stock Exchange and Euronext said that they were determined to create a global market that would include operations in China.

A consortium of companies offered to buy the troubled retailer Coles, which would be the largest takeover attempt in Australia.

The Urban Justice Center has managed to create a sizable nest egg through a series of shrewd real estate maneuvers.

The bank would build a 1.3 million-square-foot skyscraper near ground zero and bring thousands of employees downtown from Midtown.

The exchange will bring Web publishers and ad buyers together on a Web site where they can participate in auctions for ad space.

The $11 billion asset swap increases Rupert Murdoch?s control over the company and transfers the DirecTV Group to Liberty Media.

Regulators said the deals that Apple struck with record labels to stock its European iTunes stores might violate competition rules.

SouthStar Funding is the latest casualty in the battered subprime lending market.

Publishing & Broadcasting, which is owned by James D. Packer, agreed to buy casinos in Canada for $1.2 billion.

A former Qwest president testified that he could not recall comments he made in 2000 and 2001 about the company?s financial performance.

The campaign would force Citigroup to raise its takeover offer of $13.4 billion for the firm, placing sell orders in the market at a higher price.

Bristol-Myers Squibb and Sanofi-Aventis have received demands from regulators for documents related to an unsuccessful bid last year to delay generic competition to the blood thinner Plavix.

Both the housing market and the American consumer showed signs of resilience, and falling oil prices gave investors a further reason to rally.

The nation?s largest cable operator said it was buying a small New Jersey cable operator for $483 million in cash.

Peter Scaturro, the chief executive of the U.S. Trust Corporation, will not join the bank as originally planned when the two companies combine later this year.

The Federal Communications Commission has officially grounded the use of cellphones by airline passengers while in flight.

The Anheuser-Busch Companies said it would build a brewery in Foshan, China, to help reach its goal of doubling the distribution of its Budweiser beer in China over the next five years. Busch said it would make Budweiser available to an additional 150 million potential beer drinkers by bringing it to 100 new cities, each with a population of at least a million people. The company also said it would introduce the domestic brew Harbin to 33 new markets in 2007. The Foshan brewery, in Guangdong Province, is scheduled for completion in late 2008 at a cost of $63 million.

The Macquarie Communications Infrastructure Group agreed to buy the British wireless network division of National Grid for £2.5 billion ($4.93 billion) and combine the unit with its Arqiva broadcast business. National Grid, owner of the power and gas networks in Britain, said National Grid?s wireless unit had access to more than 14,500 communication sites in England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. The unit, based in Warwick, England, owns more than 2,500 sites and has contracts with its parent for access to electricity transmission towers, National Grid said. Arqiva, based in Hampshire, England, offers networking services to broadcasters and mobile phone companies including the Vodafone Group, Telefónica, O2 and Orange of France Télécom. Macquarie is based in Sydney, Australia.

The Hershey Company said it was forming a joint venture in India with Godrej Beverages and Foods to manufacture and sell confections, snacks and beverages. Hershey said it would invest $60 million and take a 51 percent stake in the venture, which will be called Godrej Hershey. The rest of the venture will be held by Godrej Industries, a privately held conglomerate that is the parent company of Godrej Beverages. Through the venture, Hershey, based in Hershey, Pa., will obtain access to Godrej?s two factories and 1.6 million retail outlets. Godrej Beverages, which makes juices, soy milk and cooking oils, has annual sales of $70 million. Richard H. Lenny, Hershey?s chief executive, above, called the deal a significant step in Hershey?s global growth strategy. Production is expected to start in 2008.

CSL, an Australian drug maker, asked for quick approval of a seasonal flu vaccine in the United States, where health officials have been battling shortages by encouraging new suppliers. CSL is seeking priority review, which could gain clearance for the shots for people 18 and older by Sept. 30, said Paul Perreault, an executive vice president at the company?s CSL Biotherapies unit.. The application is the first attempt by CSL, which has made the flu vaccine since 1962, to sell shots in the United States, Mr. Perreault said.

Australia?s central bank kept its benchmark interest rate unchanged at a six-year high, giving policy makers time to study an inflation report later this month that may prompt an increase. The governor of the Reserve Bank of Australia left the overnight cash rate target at 6.25 percent for a fourth consecutive meeting after raising it a quarter percentage point in November.

TNT, the Dutch postal company, said it would cut up to 7,000 jobs by 2010 as part of a revamping intended to save 300 million euros ($400 million) in costs annually. The company said it would freeze employee wages until the revamping was finished and adopt other unspecified measures to avoid further losses. The company said it would enter talks with its unions and employee advisory boards to work out further details.

As president of the ABC Television Network in the 1960s, Tom Moore helped it narrow the ratings gap with NBC and CBS.

The former publisher and editor of The Detroit Free Press played important roles as the newspaper won major awards.

Reuters - A second major investor in Nikko Cordial Corp. (8603.T) sought to press Citigroup to raise its $14 billion bid for the Japanese brokerage, offering its stake for sale on the open market at a 12 percent premium to the U.S. bank's takeover price.

Reuters - The Wal-Mart Stores Inc. worker fired last month for intercepting a reporter's phone calls says he was part of a larger, sophisticated surveillance operation that included snooping not only on employees, but also on critics, stockholders and the consulting firm McKinsey & Co., The Wall Street Journal reported.

US aerospace giant Boeing says it has secured more than 500 orders for its 787 Dreamliner passenger jet.

China's CITIC Bank launches a $3bn initial public offering on the Shanghai and Hong Kong stock exchanges.

The Office of Fair Trading begins a probe into the UK supply of medicines after changes by drug firm Pfizer.

British Airways lost more luggage than any other major European airline last year, figures show.

Reuters - DaimlerChrysler confirmed on Wednesday it is talking with prospective buyers of its loss-making U.S. arm Chrysler, but the world's fifth-biggest carmaker said it was keeping all options open.

Reuters - Private equity firm Apollo Management is working with investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and JP Morgan on a possible initial public offering, a source familiar with the matter said on Tuesday.

The Office of Fair Trading begins a probe into the UK supply of medicines after changes by drug firm Pfizer.

Reuters - Australia's Publishing & Broadcasting Ltd. has teamed up with Macquarie Bank Ltd. to buy nine Canadian casinos for C$1.37 billion ($1.18 billion), extending its gaming empire to North America.

DaimlerChrysler confirms for the first time that it is in talks to sell its struggling US Chrysler business.

Italy's energy giants Eni and Enel win the latest auction of assets from bankrupt Russian oil firm Yukos.

US automakers including GM and Ford come under greater pressure from foreign rivals, and see sales dip in March.

The amount of scotch whisky sold abroad hit record levels last year with more than one billion bottles exported.

Reuters - NBC Universal plans to launch 20 TV channels across Europe, Asia and Latin America in a drive to more than double broadcasting revenue outside the United States over the next two to three years.

The company confirmed for the first time today that it is in negotiations with a number of parties about the sale of the money-losing division.

The former publisher and editor of The Detroit Free Press played important roles as the newspaper won major awards.

Kenya, Burundi and Madagascar secure $164.5m from the World Bank to set-up high-speed internet networks.

Brussels gives airlines and governments six months to ensure passengers get proper payouts for delayed flights.

Reuters - Best Buy Co. , the consumer electronics retailer, on Wednesday said quarterly profit rose more than 18 percent, helped by acquisitions and increased sales of higher-priced products.

AP - Circuit City Stores Inc., the nation's second biggest electronics retailer, said Wednesday it lost $12.2 million in its fourth quarter, hurt by hefty restructuring charges related in part to store closings and slow revenue growth.

The EU offers to scrap most of the quotas and tariffs on exports from African, Caribbean and Pacific nations.

US aerospace giant Boeing says it has secured more than 500 orders for its 787 Dreamliner passenger jet.

Shares in the new transatlantic NYSE Euronext exchange fall on its market debut in both Paris and New York.

Reuters - Best Buy Co. said on Wednesday that strong flat-panel TV sales helped quarterly profit top expectations, while smaller rival Circuit City Stores Inc. posted a loss after taking charges to close stores.

Reuters - Growth in the U.S. services sector unexpectedly tumbled to its most anemic level in four years in March, while rising energy costs forced a jump in prices, according to a survey released on Wednesday.

Reuters - New orders at U.S. factories rose a weaker-than-expected 1.0 percent in February as orders for machinery and metals fell, a Commerce Department report showed on Wednesday.

Reuters - DaimlerChrysler (DCXGn.DE) acknowledged for the first time on Wednesday it was talking with prospective buyers of its loss-making Chrysler Group unit, but would not commit itself to selling the U.S. business.

Reuters - Ford Motor Co. Chief Executive Alan Mulally said on Wednesday that the restructuring of the automaker's North American operations is "generally going pretty well at this point."

The company confirmed for the first time today that it is in negotiations with a number of parties.

World oil prices drop as Iran says the British navy personnel it seized in the Gulf are free to leave.

Reuters - Growth in the dominant U.S. service sector fell to a four-year low last month while the job market showed only modest improvement, according to reports on Wednesday that reinforced views of a weakening economy.

Reuters - Circuit City Stores , which is closing stores and letting go of higher-paid store staff, on Wednesday said it would accelerate cost-cuts by trimming layers of management, controlling discretionary spending, improving direct sourcing and taking other moves.

AP - U.S. factories saw a disappointing increase in new orders, while the service sector grew at its slowest pace in nearly four years — fresh signs companies are behaving cautiously amid the economic slowdown.

Reuters - The problems in the subprime mortgage market remained contained but were clouding the outlook for the wider housing market, and the U.S. economy as a whole, Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas President Richard Fisher said on Wednesday.

Reuters - Choppy markets are taking their toll on confidence among even those with the greatest wherewithal to weather any big downturns: millionaires.

A censorship official said the military government is blocking access because of ?a video insulting to our king.?

United Airlines today dismissed Fallon Worldwide in Minneapolis, which created campaigns for the airline since 1996.

Google paid top executives just $1 in 2006, accounts reveal, but their shares were worth billions of dollars.

Reuters - Ford Motor Co Chief Executive Alan Mulally said on Wednesday the automaker must do "whatever it takes" to make its cost structure competitive and called discussions with the United Auto Workers this summer an important part of the equation.

Reuters - U.S. stocks edged up on Wednesday as Iran's plans to release captured British troops led to a decline in oil prices and positive brokerage comments boosted Microsoft Corp. .

The company confirmed for the first time today that it is in negotiations with a number of parties.

TiVo has been quietly adding features that take the machine well beyond its original function as a video recorder.

Reuters - Growth in the dominant U.S. service sector fell to a four-year low last month while the job market showed only modest improvement, according to reports on Wednesday that reinforced views of a weakening economy.

Reuters - The largest U.S. banks sold expensive subprime loans more frequently to minorities than whites, according to a study released Wednesday by a community activist group.

The lawsuit contends that the New York State United Teachers breached its fiduciary duty when it accepted millions in exchange for endorsing products to plan members.

TiVo has been quietly adding features that take the machine well beyond its original function as a video recorder.

The consumer electronics chain reported an increase in its quarterly profit while its rival, Circuit City Stores, swung to a loss.

The fall in oil prices after the release of UK navy personnel proves short lived, with crude in London actually climbing.

The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee is expected to keep interest rates at 5.25%, analysts say.

Shares in the new transatlantic NYSE Euronext exchange see a mixed debut on their first day trading.

Reuters - Vodafone says Indian law bars it from owning all of the 67 percent of Hutchison Essar it plans to buy in a controversial $11.1 bln deal, the Financial Times reported on Thursday.

AP - The global economy is forging ahead despite slower growth from its No. 1 player, the United States, the International Monetary Fund concluded Wednesday.

The company confirmed for the first time that it is in negotiations about a deal for the troubled American unit.

Ford?s chief executive insisted that he saw no need for deeper cuts beyond those slated in the company?s recovery plan.

Wal-Mart has quietly introduced an ambitious self-help project to make its workers more productive.

The magazine, The Week, will publish the extra issue online to expand their digital presence in response to changing habits of both readers and advertisers.

Eric E. Schmidt received a salary of $1 but his personal security cost shareholders $532,755, representing the bulk of his compensation.

For women entrepreneurs, starting and sustaining a business in Alaska can pose special challenges.

Fashion remains a rare industry where copying actually promotes the welfare of all competitors.

United dismissed Fallon Worldwide, which created campaigns for the airline since 1996, and awarded its creative account to Barrie D?Rozario Murphy.