Unit 8 news

Unit 8 Business and EconomySection A1.In India, five million news subscribers are signing up for mobile phone connections everymonth as the wireless telecommunication market booms.2.General Motors has started the white-collar layoffs it’s promised as it struggles to becomemore competitive.3.The Commerce Department says consumer spending weakened in February after an upsurgein January.4.A Dubai company says it’s ready to give up its attempt to take over some managementoperations at six US seaports.5.Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree opening up the country’s biggestcompany, the energy giant Gazprom, to foreign investors.6.A strong set of jobs numbers from the Labor Department has raised inflation concerns andcaused an upsurge in interest rates.7.The US has proposed cutting by 60% those subsidies to its farmers that distort world trade.8.The world’s biggest retailer, the American company Wal-Mart, has reported its first drop inprofits for more than 10 years. They’ve fallen by 26% in the past three months mainly because of costs linked to the sale of its businesses in Germany.9.General Motors is selling most of its stake in Japanese automaker Suzuki.10.A T&T says it will buy BellSouth for 67 billion dollars in stock, a move the company sayswill offer substantial financial benefits for stockholders of both companies.Section B1.The Dow Jones Industrial A verage closed 104 points to 11,076 in active trading today. TheNASDAQ closed up 12 at 2,262. And the S&P closed up 9 points today to 1,281. The S&P was down 5 points for the week.2.American beef is back in the Japanese market and slated to return to South Korea soon. Butfor America’s beef exporters who lost two of the three largest markets in 2003 after a few cases of mad cow disease were discovered in the US, it is going to be an uphill struggle.3.The executive board of the International Monetary Fund meeting in Washington has agreed towrite off more than three billion dollars in debt owed to it by some of the world’s poorest countries.4.Ford Motor Company plans to close truck manufacturing plants in Virginia and Minnesota in2008. The closure is a part of Ford’s effort to make its North American operation profitable again.5.The New Y ork Stock Exchange enters a new era tomorrow morning. For the first time in itshistory the exchange will become a for-profit entity that sells its own shares to the public.Section CItem 1The European Trade Commissioner Peter Mandelson is facing criticism from France and some other countries over negotiations on a new global trade agreement. At today’s EU foreign ministers’ meeting Mr. Mandelson is being called on to clarify concessions he is said to have madeto reduce EU farm subsidies as part of a deal to help less-developed countries. There were suggestions the cuts are more generous than those agreed by EU member states and that Mr. Mandelson is exceeding his mandate. He’s denied the accusation.Item 2Oil prices hit a record high of more than 71 dollars a barrel today in part because traders were worried about possible disruptions in supply. Analysts said there is concern(s) about the nuclear dispute with Iran and civil violence in Nigeria, both important oil suppliers. The rise in oil prices comes despite a new report from OPEC that predicts a weakening in world demand for oil. Analysts said if it weren’t for concern about supplies, growing inventories of crude oil would be forcing prices down.Item 3Boeing has agreed to pay 15 million dollars to settle a dispute with the State Department over foreign sales of commercial aircraft equipped with a small gyro chip that has military applications. The chip is used in some missile guidance systems. The fine is among the largest ever paid by a company for violation of the Arms Export Control Act. Boeing failed to get the license required for foreign sales of the gyro chip and then continued the sales even after the State Department told the firm to stop. Boeing spokesman says in hindsight the company should have handled the matter differently.Section EThe topics normally concerned in the topic。

Stock/oil market watch。

Corporate news（layoff, recruitment, investment, merger, bankruptcy, dispute settlement）。

International tradeThe general patternEvent: A fortune-500 company’s recent move(layoff, merger, investment, bankruptcy, dispute settlement)Company: Company or companies involvedSource: Source of information(organization or person)Details: Reiteration of the moveThe number of employees affectedEvents leading up to the moveAgreement reached with employees, creditors, government institutions, etc.Comments made by corporate sourcesAbbreviate1.Four civilians also died when their car hit Kostoyevs armored vehicle which police say wasthrown about 20 meters by the explosion.2.A suicide bomber detonated a blast that caused a gasoline tank truck to explode south ofBaghdad today, killing at least 54 people and wounding dozens of others.3.Spain’s prime minister has announced the first meeting of what he is calling “an alliance ofcivilizations to combat terrorism”.4.Authorities say no explosives have turned up on the Southwest Airline’s jet despite a noteclaiming a bomb was on board.5.Authorities say a Columbian airliner with 25 people on board has been hijacked. Police sayone of the passengers is a Columbian congressman.。