COMPANIES

Iran has fired the head of an oil company because he was discovered to have dual nationality -- a sensitive issue after a top bank manager fled to Canada during a huge fraud scandal, the Vatan-e Emrouz daily reported on Wednesday.

MasterCard Incorporated (NYSE:MA) reported third-quarter earnings of $5.63 per share on revenues of $1.81 billion, blowing past analysts estimates that had expected the company to report earnings of 4.82 per share and revenues in the vicinity of 1.71 billion. Increased volume from international consumers played a role, as did U.S. consumers ditching debit for credit.

Kingfisher Airlines on Wednesday sought further cushion from banks to ease its debt burden, but denied it was seeking another debt restructuring.

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, whose activities have angered the U.S. government, should be sent to Sweden from Britain to face questioning over alleged sex crimes, the High Court ruled on Wednesday, rejecting his appeal against extradition.

Apple CEO Tim Cook is no Steve Jobs. That fact is already evident in Cook's first couple of months on the job filling in for Jobs, who retired in August and died in October at the age of 56 after a long tenure as Apple's CEO.

Microsoft Corp. said hackers exploited a previously unknown bug in its Windows operating system to infect computers with the Duqu virus, which some security experts say could be the next big cyber threat.

U.S. banks have not done enough to ensure they are well capitalized, and getting back to a system where retail and investment banking are separated would be attractive in terms of reform, Bill Gross, manager of the world's largest bond fund, said on Tuesday.

Fresh Del Monte Produce's third-quarter net income fell 16 percent from the same period a year earlier, as the company dealt with rising costs of fuel, lower banana prices and a steep fall in melon sales.

Although Bank of America will drop its $5 monthly fee on debit card use that was expected to begin next year, some people have called the move a day late and a dollar short.

Archer Daniels Midland Company reported a 33 percent increase in earnings on Tuesday from the same period a year ago. Still, a low corn supply in the United States and weak conditions in oilseed-segment margins staggered profits for one of the world's largest grain processors.

Prosecutors have filed a lawsuit against Allied Home Mortgage Capital Corp and its executives, Jim Hodge and Jeanne Stell, claiming that the company misled the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) with bad mortgages.

Pfizer Inc., the world's largest drug maker, reported third-quarter profit that topped analysts' expectations based on U.S. growth of their cholesterol block-buster drug Lipitor, favorable foreign exchange rates and increases in overseas sales.

U.S. auto dealers are working to undo the Obama administration's fuel efficiency agenda, replacing car companies that for years kept such mandates at bay with the help of allies in Congress.

Wholesale gasoline differentials gained 0.5 cent a gallon on Monday on a malfunction at a Los Angeles refinery, traders said.

Bridgepoint Education and Corinthian Colleges were upbeat about signing up new students entering 2012, signaling that the worst is finally over for U.S. for-profit colleges that had faced dwindling enrollments in the wake of stricter government rules.

Kenya's central bank bared its teeth against stubbornly high inflation on Tuesday with a record rate rise that is seen supporting the shilling, boosting appetite for long-term bonds and helping secure the approval of extra funds from the IMF.

Most retail chain stores had limited growth in New York City during the last year, according to a study by the Center for an Urban Future, a public policy group.

Bank of America will drop its $5 monthly fee on debit card use that was expected to begin next year.

Goldman Sachs has purchased a majority stake in a 10-office building portfolio in Virginia from the estate of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc, Lehman said on Monday.

German auto manufacturer Audi has currently over 20 units of the Audi A1 e-tron on the roads of Munich for a pilot run.

Business software maker Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) may be setting its sights on Salesforce.com (NYSE: CRM) but the deal may not be an imminent one, according to an analyst at Global Equities Research.

At the upcoming L.A. Auto Show, Fiat is all set to introduce the new 2012 Fiat 500 Abarth.

Air China, Boeing and Chinese and U.S. aviation energy partners have conducted China's first sustainable biofuel flight.

Tribune Co, the owner of the Los Angeles Times and Chicago Tribune newspapers, suffered a legal defeat on Monday after a judge late Monday rejected its plan to end its three-year stay in bankruptcy.

Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. The wrath of jilted women has often resulted in gruesome killings of partners. Now, in a freakish case, a UK woman has gone on trial for killing her husband by pulling the handbrake of the car he was driving at 60 miles per hour and causing a fatal crash.

A U.S. judge has appointed a trustee to oversee the liquidation of the U.S. brokerage unit of Jon Corzine's MF Global Holdings Ltd, which filed for bankruptcy protection on Monday, a federal agency said.

Companies are increasingly taking advantage of securities rules that lets them raise capital without having to go through costly registrations, according to a new study by regulators.

The financial risk council held a conference call on Monday to discuss developments related to MF Global Holdings Ltd, according to a Treasury Department official.

Allstate Corp posted a sharply smaller profit for the third quarter, as the largest publicly traded home and auto insurer in the United States lost more than $1 billion due to natural disasters.