Bloomberg:
- Intel said it will build a $3.5 billion plant in Israel to extend its lead in the production of microprocessors after receiving assurances of a $525 million government grant.
- Wal-Mart Stores said US November sales rose 4.3% as shoppers bought Metro 7 apparel and $997 plasma televisions for the holidays.
- The euro is falling against the dollar as European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said today’s interest rate increase isn’t the start of a series.
- President Bush said he is tapping US religious groups to help people in the developing world who are infected with HIV/AIDS get treatment.
- Ford Motor said its November US sales of cars and trucks fell 15%, led by sport-utility vehicles. DaimlerChrysler’s sales dropped 2.7% and Toyota Motor’s increased 10%.
- US Ambassador John Bolton said the United Nations demonstrated its irrelevance today by adopting six resolutions on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, including non-binding calls for Israel to withdraw from the West Bank and Golan Heights.
Wall Street Journal:
- Schering-Plough and other drugmakers are donating to charities set up to help insured patients who can’t afford the higher premiums and co-payments insurance companies require.
- General Electric’s consumer-finance group is installing self-service kiosks at Ikea, a Swedish-owned home-furnishing retailer, to enable people to apply for credit right away.
- US home prices will probably rise at a slower pace but won’t experience a nationwide decline, Michael T. Darda, chief economist and director of research at MKM Partners, wrote.
- American Express aims to attract engaged couples and newlyweds with credit cards that offer discounts on services such as wedding-planning.
- Bank of America may say today that it will cut its online stock-trading fees to as little as $7 per trade for checking-account customers and to $5 for some rich investors.
- Television talk show host Oprah Winfrey has become so popular on the pan-Arab satellite station MBC that the broadcaster has made her the centerpiece for programs of its own.
- Skype Technologies SA will soon release a software update and compatible telephone handsets that may turn the Internet phone network into a mainstream service.
NY Times:
- The number of NYC residents under the age of five grew more than 26% between 2000 and 2004.
USA Today:
- The US will propose next year a new form of identification in a bid to make border crossing easier for Americans and Canadians.
Financial Times:
- Junk bonds and debt from emerging market borrowers, which for years traded in parallel, have drifted apart.
El Moudjahid:
- BP Plc plans to spend $300 million on oil and gas exploration in Algeria over the next three years, citing Akli Brihi, the director of the company’s branch in the North African state.
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