Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:
- OMV AG, central Europe’s biggest oil company, and Royal Dutch Shell Plc are among oil producers considering seeking licenses to explore for oil and gas off New Zealand’s southern-most coast.
- GM(GM), cutting costs after $8.55 billion in losses last year, will replace the current defined-benefits pension for many of its 36,000 US salaried workers with a less expensive defined-contribution plan starting next year.
- The US dollar strengthened the most against the euro in more than a month as expectations increased that the Fed will raise rate at least three more times.
- Gasoline futures fell for a second day on speculation that the number of refineries undergoing maintenance will begin to decrease around the middle of the month.

Wall Street Journal:
- AT&T’s(T) agreement to purchase BellSouth(BLS) poses a competitive threat to cable operators and may pressure them to cut high-speed Internet rates and slow price increases for television.
- Ford Motor(F) invested millions in marketing and incentives to sell more sport-utility vehicles with hybrid gas and electric engines, to compete with Toyota Motor(TM) and Honda Motor, which constitute 90% of the US hybrid market.
- US House opponents of Internet gambling are racing to co-sponsor a ban on Internet gambling after an earlier version failed following a campaign by lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
- The balance of power between Verizon Communications(VZ) and Vodafone Group(VOD) in their Verizon Wireless joint venture may have shifted in the British company’s favor as a result of AT&T’s(T) planned purchase of BellSouth(BLS).
- Researchers may be getting closer to developing effective treatments for type 1 diabetes, a disease that attacks insulin-producing cells and is fatal without regular insulin injections.

NY Post:
- Intercontinental Exchange(ICE) made a bid for a stake in the NYMEX last week, which might have scuttled plans by General Atlantic LLC to buy a 10% stake.

Broadcasting & Cable magazine:
- Walt Disney’s(DIS) Buena Vista Television unit is seeking to sell the cable television rights to its drama “Desperate Housewives” for as much as $1.2 million per episode.

NY Times:
- Whites may become a minority in the New York City metropolitan area within a few years, as non-Hispanic whites move to other US regions and amid an influx of immigrants, citing demographers.

Washington Post:
- Middle Eastern investment in the US has been growing since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, and while some transactions cause national security concerns, others are seen as a way to fuel the US economy.

Financial Times:
- Verizon Communications’(VZ) next moves in response to AT&T’s(T) plans to buy BellSouth Corp.(BLS) for $67 billion will highlight the differences between the two US phone companies.
- ASML Holding NV(ASML) is considering an expansion in semiconductor manufacturing and is weighing acquisitions, citing CEO Eric Meurice.

Arab News:
- Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, the world’s fifth-richest man, started a satellite tv channel designed to counter Middle East extremism by promoting more moderate Islam.

London-based Times:
- A Colorado High School geography teacher was suspended after a student recorded comments he made comparing President Bush with Adolf Hitler.