BRIEFCASE.

Byline: - Staff and Wire Services

More L.A.-Sydney flights scheduled

United Airlines announced Wednesday that, from Dec. 15 to April 27, it will offer three additional flights each week between its hub at Los Angeles International Airport and Sydney Kingsford-Smith Airport in Australia.

The flights will be operated with Boeing 747-400 aircraft.

iPod gives Apple its best quarter

SAN JOSE - Apple Computer Inc.'s three-month sales jumped 75 percent and net income more than quadrupled, chief executive Steve Jobs said, as sizzling sales of iPod music players led the company to what he called its best quarterly performance.

For the three months that ended June 25, Apple's profit rose to $320 million, or 37 cents per share, up from the $61 million and 8 cents per share that the company reported in the year-earlier quarter.

Sales surged 75 percent to $3.52 billion from $2.01 billion last year.

Investors support Sprint-Nextel deal

OVERLAND PARK, Kan. - With shareholders' blessing in hand, Sprint Corp. and Nextel Communications Inc. are pressing forward to have their unified brand in stores in time for the holidays.

The two companies still must receive regulatory approval from the Federal Communications Commission and the Justice Department, as well as the 18 states in which Sprint's local phone division operates.

Shareholders of both companies on Wednesday overwhelmingly supported Sprint's $35 billion acquisition of Nextel, taking the next step in creating the nation's No. 3 wireless company with more than 40 million wireless customers and $40 billion in annual revenue.

U.S. exports hit record high in May

WASHINGTON - The trade deficit fell in May, reflecting a rise in U.S. exports to the highest level in history and a temporary decline in foreign oil prices. But the improvement is likely to be short-lived, with oil prices again hovering around record levels.

The Commerce Department said Wednesday that America's trade imbalance declined to $55.3 billion in May, an improvement of 2.7 percent from April.

However, the deficit with China rose to $15.8 billion, the highest since last November, pushed upward by a 12.8 percent surge in imports of Chinese clothing and textiles. In the first five months this year, Chinese clothing and textile shipments are up 53.6 percent from the same period in 2004.

Even with the narrowing of the overall deficit in May, the trade imbalance through this year's first five months is running at an annual rate of $681.6 billion, 10 percent above last year's all-time record of $617.6 billion. Analysts believe the underlying trends are so strong that the deficits this year and in 2006 will set record highs.