COMPANIES

Money manager Ezra Merkin has agreed to pay $410 million to settle a lawsuit brought by the New York attorney general that accused Merkin of steering client money to Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff, a person familiar with the settlement said on Sunday.

The champion of the European Grand Prix on Sunday was Fernando Alonso, the Ferrari Formula One star leading the pack as the season's first repeat winner after eight races.

BlackBerry maker Research in Motion is considering splitting its business in two, separating its struggling handset manufacturing division from its messaging network, The Sunday Times reported.

In the 1950s, a consumer who wanted to buy eyeglasses borrowed $40 from the bank. Fast-forward to 2012: how about using your digital wallet to buy those glasses with your mobile phone? Maybe later this year.

With Tropical Storm Debby more or less dead in the water of the central Gulf of Mexico, the U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement estimates about 7.8 percent of the gulf's current daily oil production and about 8.16 percent of its current daily natural-gas production are now shut-in.

The fate of the Obama administration's health care reform law may finally be settled this week, when the U.S. Supreme Court is widely expected to finally announce whether the politically charged law will live or die.

Who said computer guys don't enjoy sports? On Thursday night, Apple's senior VP of Internet software was spotted celebrating with the Miami Heat organization after winning its second NBA Championship, and Twitter user Mike Cragg (@mcragg726) uploaded a photo as proof.

Apple introduced some stunning new products and software at WWDC 2012, but pro users felt particularly neglected at the June event in San Francisco. Despite a few bumps in the specs, the iMac and Mac Pro were largely untouched this year, but Apple CEO Tim Cook promises something really great later next year. We're hearing a new desktop may come even sooner, but sans Retina Display.

Stereo systems. Clock radios. External speakers. In-car entertainment. It's possible that none of these iPhone accessories will be compatible with Apple's upcoming sixth-generation iPhone, presumably called the iPhone 5.

Jerry Sandusky, former assistant coach of the Penn State football team, was found guilty on 45 of 48 counts of child sexual abuse Friday night.

Expectations for U.S. company earnings are on a slippery slope down Wall Street as the euro-zone crisis deepens and economic data around the world disappoints. With one week left in the second quarter, it is a good time to measure revisions in earnings estimates for companies in the S&P 500.

Apple Inc. has become embroiled in controversy after reports that Atlanta-area Apple Store employees refused sale of iPads and other merchandise to Farsi speakers and people of Iranian descent. At the center of the accusations of racial profiling is how the company is interpreting the U.S. embargo on Iran.

Tesla Motors Inc. (Nasdaq: TSLA) will begin deliveries of test-drivable, production versions of its long-awaited successor to the Roadster electric car, the Model S sedan on Friday.

As the much-anticipated Galaxy S3 phone is being rolled out, signs of Samsung's largest-ever marketing campaign are starting to appear in New York -- interactive signs.

Thursday's downgrade contained a veiled threat that pointed at politicians in Germany, the United Kingdom, France and the United States and plainly stated, Stop talking about making the banks responsible for their own follies -- or else.

Google announced a new tool called Google Maps Coordinate on Friday, which helps businesses coordinate tasks and locations via the easy-to-use Google Maps platform. With more than 1.3 billion workers -- 37.2 percent of the total workforce -- expected to be completely mobile by 2015, Google's solution seeks to help businesses communicate with their employees in the field and deploy them with the user-friendly Maps app.

Self-proclaimed travel expert Gabor Orsos is working on a prototypical floating island that will set you back around $5 million to snatch up your own private paradise.

After allegations of racial profiling by Apple Inc. employees against Farsi-speaking customers at Apple stores, the company issued a statement Friday saying it doesn't discriminate against anyone, but it failed to address accusations of specific incidents at Atlanta-area stores.

Cyberdefense specialists in the U.S. and Israel collaborated on the so-called ?Flame? malware that caused havoc with Iran?s nuclear reactors, a top engineer has said.

As expected, the App Store has officially launched in 32 new countries as of Friday, including Albania, Fiji, Namibia, Nepal, and Ukraine. This means that app developers can now sell or distribute their applications for gaming, productivity, news, business, education and entertainment in a total of 155 countries around the globe.

Apparently, McDonald?s spends as much time and effort styling their Big Mac?s as celebrity stylists do when prepping red carpet looks. Thanks to a video supplied by McDonald?s Canada, the world now knows what goes into the food styling process behind how the fast food chain makes the burgers seen in advertisements much more appetizing -- and bigger -- than the real deal.

More than a month after the initial public offering of Facebook (Nasdaq: FB), the No. 1 social networking site, investors ought to be on the alert for several bullish signs.

Analyst Shaw Wu of Sterne Agee said in a note to investors Thursday that Apple's next generation iPhone is expected to arrive in October, full 12 months after the release of the iPhone 4S last October, with support for China Mobile's proprietary 3G network, making it a true world phone.

Apple's shining white façade is picking up grime in the year after the death of genius CEO Steve Jobs. Recent weeks have brought a marketing gaffe at the World Wide Developers Conference and accusations of racial profiling against Iranian-Americans and Farsi speakers by Apple Store employees.

The latest blockbuster involves Jerry Sandusky's adopted son.

Nissan Motor Company (Tokyo: 7201) CEO Carlos Ghosn may step down before the start of the company's next mid-term business plan begins in five years, according to Bloomberg News Thursday.

Dell (Nasdaq: DELL), the No. 3 PC maker, seeking to battle Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL), the No. 1 database developer, may have been stymied in its efforts to acquire Quest Software (Nasdaq: QFST).

The National Iranian American Council joined the Council of American-Islamic Relations in denouncing Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL) and asserted that Apple Store employees who have refused to sell iPads and other products to customers speaking Farsi, the language of Iran, have been clearly engaging in racial profiling.

Natalee Holloway's mother has filed a lawsuit against The National Enquirer that claims the tabloid published untrue stories to profit from her daughter's 2005 disappearance in Aruba. According to the Associated Press, the lawsuit filed by Beth Holloway on Wednesday, June 20, claims that the magazine and its publisher, American Media Inc., published false headlines, articles and statements for nearly seven years.