The F.D.A. is examining whether Eli Lilly provided accurate data about the side effects of the antipsychotic drug Zyprexa.

The Jarden Corporation will acquire K2, the maker of K2 skis and Rawlings baseball gloves and bats, for about $1.2 billion.

The Newmont corporation and one of its senior executives faced criminal charges of polluting a bay with toxic waste.

Eli Broad and Bill Gates are joining forces for a $60 million foray into politics in an effort to vault education high onto the agenda of the 2008 presidential race.

An unusual land rush is stirring in Midtown Manhattan as companies sign long-term leases for much more office space than they need.

JPMorgan Chase is threatening to move thousands of employees from Midtown to Connecticut if New York officials do not give it a larger subsidy package to build near ground zero.

Klaus Kleinfeld?s future was left hanging as the company?s supervisory board wavered over the extension of his contract.

The earnings show the potential for growth but also the steep challenges facing AT&T and other telephone companies.

The newspaper publisher reported that profit fell in the quarter because of a slump in classified advertising, dropping below Wall Street expectations.

Shares dropped on concerns that that lower-than-expected revenue signaled a slowdown in its core server business.

A $110 million settlement between Warner Music and Bertelsmann resolves claims that Bertelsmann had contributed to widespread copyright infringement.

While profit easily beat the expectations of analysts, shares fell after the company said it expected flat second-quarter results.

Michigan?s largest commercial landlord is offering free space as an incentive to attract business into the economically challenged state.

Japan?s trade surplus rose more than expected in March from a year earlier as exports climbed despite a slowdown in the U.S. economy.

The Pepsi Bottling Group said that quarterly profit fell nearly 15 percent on higher raw material costs.

Warren E. Avis was a Michigan car dealership owner who founded a chain of car rental agencies and turned it into the nation?s second biggest.

Reuters - Jarden Corp. is expected to announce an agreement on Wednesday to buy sports-equipment maker K2 Inc. for $1.2 billion in cash and stock, the Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site.

A top manager at the World Bank said the furor over Paul D. Wolfowitz was the biggest crisis in the bank?s history.

A group of banks led by RBS says it is interested in buying Dutch lender ABN Amro for £49bn, trumping Barclays.

China has overtaken the US as Japan's main trade partner for the first time since World War II, official data shows.

Luxury goods-maker LVMH sees its latest sales rise 7%, helped by strong demand for its high-end watches.

An ex-manager at Apple faces civil charges over the alleged fraudulent award of share options to bosses.

An £11.1bn bid for chemist chain Alliance Boots raises questions over the price being paid and the outlook for jobs.

Businesses are being urged to help workers give up smoking before the smoking ban in England.

Reuters - Financial information and news provider Reuters Group posted a higher-than-forecast rise in first-quarter underlying revenue, but said actual revenue fell by 1.1 percent due largely to a weaker dollar.

Honda sees a 5% drop in annual profits after being hit by falling car sales in Japan and higher costs.

The UK economy grew by a faster-than-expected 0.7% in the first three months of 2007, official figures show.

Sainsbury's shares jump after investment group Three Delta buys a stake of about 14%, worth £1.5bn, in the retailer.

Reuters - A trio of banks led by Royal Bank of Scotland proposed a 72 billion euro ($98 billion) bid for Dutch bank ABN AMRO, threatening to thwart an agreed takeover by British rival Barclays.

Reuters - U.S. conglomerate General Electric Co. won permission on Wednesday from the European Commission to buy two of Abbott Laboratories Inc.'s diagnostics business units for $8.13 billion in cash.

Reuters - ABN AMRO said on Wednesday the terms of the sale of its U.S. LaSalle operations to Bank of America contain a fourteen day clause to accept alternative offers for the unit.

The board of German industrial giant Siemens is to decide on the future of chief executive Klaus Kleinfeld.

GM, DaimlerChrysler and Ford are to help their Chinese suppliers improve workplace safety.

US airline JetBlue reports first quarter losses of $22m after severe disruption to services at the start of 2007.

The UK economy grew by a faster-than-expected 0.7% in the first three months of 2007, official figures show.

Reuters - U.S. stocks looked poised to gain later on Wednesday in a session packed with earnings from ConocoPhillips, Anheuser Busch, UPS and Apple among others.

Reuters - PepsiCo Inc. on Wednesday reported a 16 percent rise in quarterly profit, topping Wall Street estimates, as strong sales of its Frito Lay snacks helped offset weakness in its North American soft drink business.

Reuters - WellPoint Inc. reported a 7 percent rise in first-quarter profit on Wednesday, helped by gains in membership, but the insurer projected a key medical-cost gauge would be worse than expected for the year.

Royal Bank of Scotland and two other European lenders today trumped a recommended offer made by Barclays.

Orders for American-made goods rose by 3.4 percent, and businesses continued invest in expansion.

The German economy is now expected to grow by 2.3% in 2007, lifted by strong exports, says the government.

Reuters - A trio of banks led by Royal Bank of Scotland has proposed a 72 billion-euro ($98 billion) bid for Dutch bank ABN AMRO , threatening to thwart an agreed takeover by British rival Barclays .

Reuters - Boeing Co. said on Wednesday first-quarter profit rose a greater-than-expected 27 percent, helped by higher commercial airplane deliveries and sales of military equipment.

Reuters - Auto parts maker Lear Corp. , which plans to sell itself to an affiliate of billionaire investor Carl Icahn, said on Wednesday quarterly earnings rose, supported by new business and cost-cuts in its seating unit.

FT.com - The economy expanded briskly in the first three months of the year, according to official figures published on Wednesday, cementing expectations of another interest rate rise from the Bank of England next month.

A top manager at the World Bank said the furor over Paul D. Wolfowitz was the biggest crisis in the bank?s history.

The Dow Jones, America's main share index, passes the 13,000 mark for the first time in its history.

Fears of a Spanish property crash increase, fanning concerns that thousands of Britons will lose money.

US new home sales rose 2.6% in March, but the increase fails to ease concerns over the strength of the market.

Western nations risk missing the targets they have set for aid to Africa, United Nations ex-chief Kofi Annan warns.

The German economy is now expected to grow by 2.3% in 2007, lifted by strong exports, says the government.

China has overtaken the US as Japan's main trade partner for the first time since World War II, official data shows.

Reuters - Sales of new U.S. homes rose 2.6 percent in March but fell short of the pace expected by analysts while the number of new homes for sale was little changed, according to a government report on Wednesday.

Reuters - Alcoa Inc. , the world's largest aluminum company, said on Wednesday that it might put its packaging and consumer business up for sale, sending its shares as much as 7 percent.

Reuters - Boeing Co. said on Wednesday first-quarter profit rose a greater-than-expected 27 percent, helped by higher commercial airplane deliveries, but held its profit forecast unchanged for this year and next, suggesting the extended aerospace boom may be leveling off.

AFP - German Economy Minister Michael Glos warned Wednesday that a continued rise in the euro will present a danger to German growth but added that the currency's present level was sustainable.

The 3.4 percent rise was larger than Wall Street expected, and a sign that capital investment is not slowing.

The boss of Siemens says he will stand down later this year as corruption claims surround the industrial giant.

US aerospace firm Boeing saw profits top forecasts for the first three months of 2007, boosted by commercial planes and defence.

The German economy is now expected to grow by 2.3% in 2007, lifted by strong exports, says the government.

Reuters - New orders for costly and long-lasting U.S.-made goods rose a surprisingly strong 3.4 percent in March, according to a government report on Wednesday that showed businesses investing to expand operations.

Reuters - Boeing Co. said on Wednesday first-quarter profit rose a greater-than-expected 27 percent, helped by higher commercial airplane deliveries, but held its profit forecast unchanged for this year and next, suggesting the extended aerospace boom may be leveling off.

Reuters - New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo said at a congressional hearing on Wednesday that criminal charges may result from his widening investigation into conflicts of interest in the student loan industry.

The Commerce Department said that orders for durable goods rose 3.4 percent last month, to $214.9 billion, which pleasantly surprised Wall Street.

The European Parliament calls on Paul Wolfowitz to quit as World Bank boss over a job row involving his partner.

A group of banks led by RBS says it is interested in buying Dutch lender ABN Amro for £49bn, trumping Barclays.

Reuters - Shares of Amazon.com rose as high as 27 percent on Wednesday, the largest gain in more than five years, validating bullish investors' belief that the Internet retailer's spending and its focus on boosting sales over profit would eventually pay off.

Reuters - New orders for U.S.-made durable goods were surprisingly strong in March, the government reported on Wednesday, but softer-than-forecast sales of new homes took the glow off a pickup in investment spending.

Reuters - Alcoa Inc. said on Wednesday it may sell three of its businesses including its packaging unit, which makes Reynolds Wrap, sending shares of the world's largest aluminum company up more than 7 percent.

Reuters - Most U.S. regions experienced only modest or moderate growth between the end of February and mid-April, while prices were generally stable, the Federal Reserve said on Wednesday.

AP - Most parts of the country logged moderate economic growth in the early spring, despite sluggish manufacturing largely due to the housing slump.

Investors continue to accentuate the positive and bet that a slowing economy will not stall and will pick up again.

Orders for durable goods rose 3.4 percent last month, to $214.9 billion, which pleasantly surprised Wall Street.

Klaus Kleinfeld is the latest casualty in the German engineering company?s widening corruption scandal.

The Entrepreneurial League System attempts to identify, recruit and develop business talent in underserved and overlooked regions of the country by using the farm team concept of Major League Baseball.

ABC News announced today that it had failed to reach a contract extension with Rosie O?Donnell.

The Dow Jones, America's main share index, closes above the 13,000 mark for the first time in its history.

Weakness in manufacturing and construction has led to moderate growth in the US economy, a key survey finds.

Reuters - Apple Inc. posted on Wednesday a quarterly profit that soared 88 percent, fueled by strong sales of its MacBook computers and iPods.

Reuters - Venezuela signed agreements on Wednesday with five foreign oil companies to hand over operations of four massive Orinoco heavy oil projects, with ConocoPhillips alone failing to sign the accords.

Reuters - PepsiCo Inc. on Wednesday reported a 16 percent rise in quarterly profit, topping Wall Street estimates, on lower corporate expenses, a lower tax rate and strong international sales of snacks and beverages.

Reuters - Apple Inc. said on Wednesday quarterly profit soared 88 percent on lower component costs and sales of MacBook laptops and iPod digital media players, lifting its shares by 8 percent to above $100 for the first time.

Reuters - Pharmacia and Upjohn Company Inc., a unit of Pfizer Inc. , pleaded guilty to one count of offering a kickback to a pharmacy benefit manager and was sentenced to pay a criminal fine of $19.68 million, federal prosecutors said on Wednesday.

Reuters - Apple Inc. board of directors defended Chief Executive Steve Jobs on Wednesday after the company's former finance chief linked him to the handling of backdated stock options grants.

Reuters - U.S. prosecutors in New York are reviewing stock option grants at BlackBerry maker Research In Motion Ltd. , the company said on Wednesday.

AP - Mutual fund investors who held their ground after the stock market's late February pullback didn't have to wait long to see the wisdom of their decision.

Apple surpassed even the most optimistic forecasts for its usually tepid second quarter, delivering an 88 percent increase in profit.

Lawmakers were urged to consider regulations that would restrict violent programs to late evening, when most children would not be watching.

The rally has defied skeptics who thought stocks were due for a harder slog as the economy slows.

The ABN Amro takeover battle, the biggest in banking?s history, is the latest sign of the deal frenzy in Europe.

Proposed regulations would restrict violent programs to late evening, when most children would not be watching.

Singapore is trying to carve out a new niche for itself in the global economy by bolstering banking secrecy laws and offering generous tax incentives.

The company surpassed even the most optimistic forecasts on strong sales of Macintosh computers and iPod music players.

A former Apple board member kept suspicions about Apple?s options-backdating policies swirling around Steven P. Jobs.

Lawyers for Jacob Alexander won a delay against attempts to extradite him to face charges of options fraud in the U.S.

Joost, the Internet television service, has lined up several blue-chip advertisers as it prepares for its introduction.

Reuters - Siemens AG (SIEGn.DE) Chief Executive Klaus Kleinfeld said on Wednesday he will leave the scandal-hit group when his contract expires in September, widening a leadership vacuum at the German conglomerate.