AP Executive Morning Briefing

The top business news from The Associated Press for the morning of Thursday, July 12, 2007:

Murdoch Frustrated With Dow Jones Talks

SUN VALLEY, Idaho (AP) _ News Corp. Chairman Rupert Murdoch appeared frustrated Wednesday with the state of talks with Dow Jones & Co., publisher of The Wall Street Journal, saying it was unclear where the company's controlling shareholders stood. Murdoch has offered $5 billion for the company but has been entangled for several weeks in negotiations with the Bancroft family, which controls Dow Jones, largely over their concerns about safeguards for the Journal's editorial independence and integrity.

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Panama Ratifies Free Trade Deal With US

PANAMA CITY, Panama (AP) _ Panama's legislature ratified a free trade agreement with the United States on Wednesday amid protests by hundreds of leftists and farmers opposed to the deal. The National Assembly's approval of the pact by an overwhelming 58-3 margin, with one abstention, comes two weeks after it was signed by both governments in Washington. The agreement must still be ratified by the Democrat-controlled U.S. Congress.

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Most Working Moms Prefer Part-Time Jobs

NEW YORK (AP) _ A sharply increasing portion of America's working mothers say their ideal situation would include a part-time job, rather than working full time or staying at home, a new national survey finds. The Pew Research Center survey, being released Thursday, found that only 21 percent of working mothers with children under 18 viewed full-time work as the best arrangement, down from 32 percent in 1997.

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China Bans Toxic Syrup in Toothpaste

BEIJING (AP) _ China banned diethylene glycol _ a thickening agent in antifreeze _ from use in toothpaste Wednesday, one of its most significant concessions yet as it struggles to regain international confidence in the country's beleaguered exports. Chinese-made toothpaste containing the toxic substance, which can cause kidney failure, paralysis and death, has been yanked from sale in North and South America, Europe and Asia in recent weeks.

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Rio Tinto Bids $38.1 Billion for Alcan

SYDNEY, Australia (AP) _ Mining giant Rio Tinto has offered to buy Canadian aluminum company Alcan Inc. for $38.1 billion, the companies said Thursday, in a friendly takeover that counters a hostile bid by U.S.-based Alcoa. In a joint statement, Rio Tinto and Alcan said the Anglo-Australian miner was offering $101 per share for Alcan in the all-cash deal, and that Alcan's board was recommending the deal to shareholders.

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Accused Investor's Things Up for Auction

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) _ A guitar said to have been played by Jimi Hendrix and one crafted for Beatle George Harrison stand in a glass case. Nearby are porpoise sculptures, flowered shirts and boxes of gnomes. Across the room is a purple Jaguar with a leopard-skin painted roof. These and roughly 4,500 other items _ including cartons of hot sauce labeled "Al Parish's Bottle of Death" _ were on display at the North Charleston Convention Center. The items will be auctioned to recoup some of the $50 million investigators say hundreds of investors lost when they trusted Parish, a flamboyant economist, with their money.

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Japanese Stocks Fall; Dollar Up vs. Yen

TOKYO (AP) _ Japanese stocks slipped a third day Thursday, led by securities shares, dragged down by concerns that the problems in the U.S. subprime-loan sector might spill over into the Japanese market. The Nikkei 225 index shed 65.37 points, or 0.36 percent, on the Tokyo Stock Exchange, to 17,984.14 points. It was the first close below 18,000 since June 28 and followed an 1.11 percent drop on Wednesday.

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AOL to Pay $3M, Reform Cancel Policies

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) _ Averting a looming court battle over how it has handled the exodus from its Internet dial-up service, AOL has agreed to make it easier for its remaining customers to leave as part of a $3 million settlement with 48 states and the District of Columbia. The resolution announced Wednesday was driven by a deluge of complaints from AOL customers who said they tried to close their accounts, only to be thwarted in their attempts or discover they were still being billed for services that they thought had been canceled.

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Oil Prices Nearly Flat in Asian Trading

SINGAPORE (AP) _ Oil prices inched up Thursday after a bigger-than-expected gain in U.S. gasoline inventories was matched by lower-than-expected crude stockpiles. Light, sweet crude for August delivery rose 9 cents to $72.65 a barrel in Asian electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange, midmorning in Singapore. The contract slipped 25 cents to settle at $72.56 a barrel Wednesday.

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Snow: Cerberus to Make Chrysler Rebound

ROCHESTER, Mich. (AP) _ It may be a little difficult for the skeptics to believe that Cerberus Capital Management LP can take over the struggling Chrysler Group, keep the same plan and management in place and make enough money to satisfy Cerberus' private equity investors. Yet that's what Cerberus Chairman, former Treasury Secretary John Snow, repeatedly explained Wednesday during a daylong appearance near Detroit.

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Gold Prices

LONDON (AP) _ Gold bullion opened Thursday at a bid price of $663.50 a troy ounce, up from $660.48 late Wednesday.

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Dollar-Yen

TOKYO (AP) _ The dollar rose against the yen in Asia Thursday as traders were heartened by Wall Street's recovery overnight, while the Bank of Japan left its key interest rate unchanged, as expected.

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