Lower-sodium SpaghettiOs coming in 2010 Campbell Soup Co. said Monday that it will cut the amount of sodium in its SpaghettiOs canned pastas by up to 35 percent, as foodmakers increasingly try to make healthier products for children. Several reduced-sodium versions of SpaghettiOs -- including SpaghettiOs Original and SpaghettiOs A to Z's -- will reach stores starting in April, with revised versions of others in the product line hitting shelves in July.
Chinese firm buying Saab technology rights Beijing Autos has agreed to buy technology from GM's Saab Automobile, a breakthrough for the Chinese automaker that could clear the way for General Motors Co. to sell the rest of Saab to another buyer. An announcement Monday from state-owned Beijing Automotive Industry Holdings gave no details about the cost or timing of the acquisition of car and engine technology. Beijing Autos, also known as BAIC, said it plans to buy the rights to some powertrain technology for Saab's 9-5 and 9-3 sedans, including engine and gearbox know-how.
British Airways cabin crews prepare to strike British Airways cabin crew members will strike over Christmas, their union said Monday. Strikes are to begin Dec. 22 and run until Jan. 2, said Len McCluskey, assistant general secretary of Britain's Unite union. McCluskey said 92.5 percent of workers voted in favor of the walkout.
Oracle moves closer to Sun takeover European Union regulators moved closer to approving Oracle Corp.'s takeover of Sun Microsystems Inc. Monday when they said the company's stated commitment to open-source database software is "an important new element." The European Commission is holding up the $7.4 billion deal over worries that Oracle might gain too much control over the database software market if it takes over Sun's open-source-based MySQL, which the EU claims poses a threat to Oracle's own database programs. Oracle moved to soothe those fears Monday, promising that it would invest heavily in MySQL and maintain both licenses and the sharing of interface information with developers so they could continue to make products compatible with MySQL.
North Face Apparel sues South Butt North Face Apparel Corp. is suing a small suburban St. Louis-area company called South Butt and the teenager who started it. The lawsuit, filed last week in federal court in St. Louis, seeks unspecified damages and asks the court to prohibit South Butt from marketing and selling its parody product line. South Butt's attorney, Albert Watkins, says the company was started by 18-year-old Jimmy Winkelmann to help pay for college. It puts out T-shirts, jackets and sweatshirts with the tag line "Never Stop Relaxing," a parody of the North Face line, "Never Stop Exploring."
Austria nationalizes failing bank unit Austria nationalized the local unit of a German bank on Monday after heavy losses tied to loans in Southeast and Eastern Europe drove the lender to the brink of collapse. The bank, Hypo Group Alpe Adria, based in Klagenfurt, Austria, had assets of about $58 billion, and faced a loss of more than $1.5 billion this year. Officials had feared that a collapse would hurt Austrian customers and taxpayers and destabilize fragile economies in places like Croatia, Serbia and Slovenia.
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