COMPANIES

Kraft Foods Inc. on Wednesday posted higher quarterly profit, helped by lower restructuring charges, a lower tax rate and higher sales, which offset rising costs for milk, wheat and other ingredients.

Dow Chemical, the biggest U.S. chemical company, is considering making a bid for Britain's Imperial Chemical Industries, the Daily Telegraph newspaper said on Wednesday.

British Airways revealed the biggest fine in its history on Wednesday as it reached settlements with the U.S. and UK authorities for price fixing that could cost it up to 350 million pounds ($711 million).

News Corp. said on Wednesday that it would buy Dow Jones & Co Inc. for $5.6 billion, adding the Wall Street Journal to its worldwide media empire and ending a century of family ownership of one of the top U.S. business news sources.

Time Warner Inc. said on Wednesday that quarterly profit rose 5.2 percent as it added more digital cable, Internet and phone customers. The company also said its board had approved the buyback of $5 billion of its stock, after essentially completing a $20 billion buyback.

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. is likely to secure a deal to buy Dow Jones & Co. Inc. on Tuesday after drawing the support of a sufficient number of votes held by the company's controlling family, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Telecoms equipment maker Alcatel-Lucent produced a bigger-than-expected quarterly loss on Tuesday as merger costs and pricing pressures took their toll, sending its shares down as much as 9 percent.

Former Enron Corp. shareholders on Tuesday called on the White House to support their efforts to hold third parties accountable when their actions help a company defraud investors.

John Felderhof, the lone remaining key figure in the multibillion-dollar Bre-X gold fraud, was found not guilty on Tuesday of insider trading and misleading investors in the only prosecution brought in the greatest mining scam of all time.

Investors worry that deteriorating borrowing conditions will saddle lenders -- and not just Citigroup -- with too many soured investments.

CBS Corp on Tuesday said second-quarter earnings fell sharply from a year ago, when it was helped by a tax benefit and the sale of its Paramount Parks, but still beat expectations on stronger results from its publishing and outdoor divisions.

General Motors Corp on Tuesday said it flipped to a quarterly net profit, trouncing Wall Street estimates as it benefited from cost-cutting, a better mix of products and growing sales overseas. GM, whose shares rose about 6 percent in early electronic trading following the results, posted a net profit of $891 million, or $1.56 a share, compared with a net loss of $3.4 billion, or $5.98 a share a year earlier.

Johnson & Johnson said on Tuesday it planned to eliminate 3 percent to 4 percent of its global work force of about 120,500 people as part of a plan to improve its cost structure. The cost-cutting plan is expected to generate pretax cost savings of $1.3 billion to $1.6 billion in 2008, the diversified health care company said.

GlaxoSmithKline Plc's diabetes drug Avandia should stay on the U.S. market, even though data suggest it may increase the risk of a heart attack for some patients, an advisory panel said on Monday in a 22-1 vote.

Japan's two top steel makers, who have more than half of the raw steel home market, announced strong earnings for the April through June quarter on Monday.

Rupert Murdoch's News Corp. said on Monday it is highly unlikely to proceed with its $5 billion bid for Dow Jones & Co. Inc. unless it wins more support from Dow Jones's controlling family. The comment from a News Corp. spokesman pushed Dow Jones shares down as much 8.5 percent.

Hedge fund Citadel Investment Group, LLC said on Monday that it took over Sowood Capital's credit portfolio following speculation last week that heavy losses might force the smaller hedge fund to shut down.

GlaxoSmithKline Plc's widely used diabetes drug Avandia should be pulled off the market, U.S. Food and Drug Administration scientist David Graham said in a presentation prepared for delivery on Monday.

Verizon Wireless, the No. 2 U.S. wireless service, said on Monday it would buy Rural Cellular Corp for $757 million in cash to save on roaming costs and expand its customer base.

Verizon Communications Inc. said on Monday its second-quarter profit rose 4.5 percent as subscriber growth for its FiOS TV service accelerated while wireless growth remained steady.

More than half of U.S. mid-sized companies are not planning to hire over the next 12 months or may lay people off, and fewer than a third of the firms expect strong economic growth, a survey said on Monday.

John Malone, the U.S. media mogul and chairman of Liberty Global, is considering entering a $23 billion auction for cable operator Virgin Media, the Financial Times reported on its Web site on Sunday.

Dutch bank ABN AMRO withdrew its recommendation of a takeover by Barclays, leaving it neutral between the British bank's offer and a higher bid from Royal Bank of Scotland's consortium. The Netherlands' biggest bank, the target of a 66 billion-euro ($89.55 billion) offer from Barclays and a 71 billion-euro bid from RBS, Belgium's Fortis and Spain's Santander, also reported a 7.1 percent decline in its second-quarter net profit on Monday.

As one of the largest international carriers, U.S.-based United Airlines marked a new beginning last year, emerging from bankruptcy protection which began in 2002. After enduring a painful restructuring, the airline is greeting a new era, approaching its passengers as a leaner, more cost-efficient company.

Toyota's quirky Prius hybrid is chosen as the world's most eco-friendly car by the government.

Beneath the surface, CEOs and their ties with analysts who cover their companies can run deep.

The former chief executive of Qwest Communications International, Joseph Nacchio, was sentenced on Friday to six years in prison and ordered to forfeit $52 million in stock gains from insider trading.

A key branch of the Bancroft family plans to vote against accepting News Corp's $5 billion bid for Dow Jones & Co Inc, The Wall Street Journal reported on its Web site on Friday.

Outdoor advertising company Clear Channel Outdoor Holdings Inc. said on Friday its quarterly profit rose 43 percent, helped by growth in ads by automotive, telecommunications and retail companies.