Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:
- Cholesterol-lowering drugs used to prevent heart attacks and stroke may also help fight a pandemic sparked by bird flu, and should be tested, said a physician who has studied immunization for decades.
- Barr Pharmaceuticals(BRL) raised its offer for the Croatian generic-drug maker Pliva d.d. to $2.3 billion in cash, topping a rival bid for eastern Europe’s largest drugmaker.
- Cendant Corp.(CD) agreed to sell Travelport, the travel subsidiary that includes the Orbitz Web site, to the Blackstone Group for $4.3 billion in cash as part of a plan to break the company into four pieces.
- Kirk Kerkorian’s Tracinda asked GM’s CEO Wagoner to explore a three-way partnership with Nissan Motor and Renault SA.
- US Treasuries rallied for a second day on optimism the Fed is close to done raising the benchmark interest rate and has kept inflation contained.

Wall Street Journal:
- DaimlerChrysler’s(DCX) Chrysler Group will announce tomorrow its new V8-powered Dodge Challenger coupe, designed to evoke a 1970s so-called muscle car.
- Standard & Poor’s said it will stop publishing its four-year-old Hedge Fund Index, highlighting the fallout from the collapse of commodity broker Refco Inc., citing court filings.
- Vic Gundotra, who spent 15 years at Microsoft Corp.(MSFT) helping market the company’s software, will leave to join rival Google(GOOG) net year, citing Google spokesman Steve Langdon.
- Gap Inc.(GPS) plans to put higher-priced merchandise in the apparel chain’s Old Navy outlets to test if customers will spend more and help the company boost sluggish sales.
- Iridium Satellite LLC is providing the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration with satellite data links for a new tsunami warning system.

Boston Globe:
- Members of the Massachusetts House unanimously passed a bill that would raise the minimum wage to $8 an hour by October 2008, and rejected a plan to link future increases to the cost of living.

AP:
- Warren Buffett’s pledge of most of his fortune to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has drawn criticism from pro-life abortion opponents. Activists including Thomas Euteneuer, a Roman Catholic priest who is president of Human Life International, criticized Gates and Buffett for their support of Planned Parenthood and international birth-control programs.

NY Times:
- New York City’s on-time high-school graduation rate last year was 58.2%, the highest in two decades, citing Schools Chancellor Joel Klein.

Financial Times:
- UK hedge funds should support disclosure of large short-selling positions, in order to avoid being imposed with more severe regulations, the Assoc. of British Insurers said.

Les Echos:
- Dell Inc.(DELL) will suffer reduced profitability in the next three or four quarters as its seeks growth in emerging markets such as China, Brazil and India, CEO Rollins said.

Beijing Antaike Information Development:
- China produced 68.3 metric tons of gold in the first four months of this year, up 13% form last year, citing the China Gold Assoc.
- China may consumer less copper than forecast this year as soaring prices damp use of the metal by cable and electric wire producers, which favor cheaper aluminum.