Today's Headlines

Bloomberg:
- US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, wrapping up several days of Middle East mediation, said a cease-fire and political settlement between Israel and Hezbollah is achievable this week.
- Teck Cominco Ltd., the world’s largest zinc miner, revised its unsolicited offer for Inco Ltd. in an attempt to rebuff a competing bid from Phelps Dodge(PD) and create North America’s biggest mining company.
- Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis President William Poole said he’s undecided on whether the central bank should raise interest rates at its next meeting in eight days.
- US drug regulators are prepared to clear over-the-counter sales of an emergency contractive, Barr Pharmaceuticals’(BRL) Plan B pill.
- Natural Gas rallied to its second biggest gain this year as a heat wave moved from the Midwest to the Northeast, spurring utilities to increase electric power.
- Gasoline futures fell for a third session on expectations demand will decline as the summer driving season winds down.

Wall Street Journal:
- Verizon Wireless(VZ) plans to release a cell-phone with a music player that has a similar design to Apple Computer’s(AAPL) iPod.
- US electricity users will be encouraged to join energy conservation programs as the power network strains under record use levels.
- Wind-power technology is becoming an attractive, low-risk, high-yield investment for pension funds.
- The Fed’s policy rate is “in a vicinity that is roughly appropriate” to temper inflation pressures without choking off economic growth, San Francisco Fed President Janet Yellen said.

NY Times:
- The US Homeland Security Department has tightened enforcement of immigration laws, bringing charges against suspected violators.
- About 13% of US men aged 30-55 aren’t working today, up from 5% in the 1960s. Most of the men not working are former blue-collar workers with a high-school education at most, adding that they’re turning down jobs they think are beneath them. About 73% of women between ages 30-54 have jobs, up from 45% in the mid-60s.
- Former Apple Computer(AAPL) engineer Steve Perlman will introduce today a camera system that adds photorealistic three-dimensional effects to digital entertainment.
- Washington Post and several other daily newspaper companies have hired Inform.com, an online news aggregator, to scan news and blog sites and post links to content related to news stories, even from competitors, on each newspaper’s Web site.
- US Airways Group’s financial success since its merger last year with America West has led some airline executives and investors to discuss the possibility of more mergers.

Economic Information Daily:
- China needs a stronger currency to stop the economy from growing too fast and fueling inflation, citing a researcher at Beijing-based Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

Gulf News:
- Rising oil prices have increased the six Gulf Cooperation Council member states’ reserves by almost $70 billion, or 93%, in five years, citing a report by the World Bank.

Donya-e-eqtesad:
- Iran signed a contract with China Petroleum & Chemical, known as Sinopec, to increase the capacity of the Islamic republic’s Arak refinery.