SETTLEMENT

The hefty $7.25 billion settlement that Visa and MasterCard have agreed to, in response to a 2005 class action lawsuit over credit card swipe fees, will disadvantage retailers further and restrict consumer spending in an economy that relies heavily on credit card use and personal expenditure.

GSK targeted the antidepressant Paxil to patients under age 18 when it was approved for adults only, and it pushed the drug Wellbutrin for uses it was not approved for, including weight loss and treatment of sexual dysfunction, according to an investigation led by the U.S. Justice Department.

Apple will pay a $60 million settlement to secure the iPad trademark in China, opening up sales to the Chinese market, Apple's most profitable after the United States.

Israel began the evacuation of settlers from the West Bank outpost of Ulpana Tuesday, bringing a sense of finality to the Supreme Court's ruling that it was built illegally on private Palestinian land and had to be dismantled.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) has agreed to settle a probe into sales of its antipsychotic drug Risperdal and other medications for as much as $2.2 billion, Bloomberg reported Monday, citing two people familiar with the matter.

Forget New York, Paris or Sydney. Take a closer look at the map, and you?ll find a whole host of overlooked cities just begging to be explored.

Apple has been officially reprimanded over its misleading advertising in Australia of the term 4G for new iPad 3. No considerable penalty here: According to The Australian, Apple has agreed to a $2.25 million settlement in Australian courts after the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) won a battle alleging the Cupertino, Calif.-based company misled customers about the new iPad's touted features.

The 2010 Gulf Coast oil spill may prove to be a jobs booster for the region, if money paid in damages is spent to restore the Gulf's coast.

Israel plans to build hundreds of new homes in West Bank settlements. The announcement came as an effort foundered Wednesday in parliament to skirt an Israeli Supreme Court ruling ordering the demolition of apartment buildings in a settlement unauthorized by the state.

Dutch company Mars One has been making the rounds with its dreams of putting on a reality TV show to select astronauts for a one-way journey to the Red Planet. But the company is vague on how people will be transported to and live on Mars.

Shares of Facebook (Nasdaq: FB), the No. 1 social network, kept setting new lows after their May 17 IPO. By Tuesday, they'd shed 32 percent of their value.

Activision and Infinity Ward heads Jason West and Vince Zampella have reached an agreement, according to Game Informer. An attorney told the gaming news publication that a settlement among all parties, which includes Activision, Jason West, Vince Zampella and the Infinity Ward Employee Group, was reached on May 31. No further details have been disclosed.

Antonio Brufau, CEO of Spanish oil company Repsol, renewed his resolve to seek punitive damages from Argentina's government following its seizure of the company's subsidiary YPF -- and his shareholders are with him

The value of the monetary unit of China dropped against the world's reserve currency on Tuesday

The rise of private space companies and foreign space programs, combined with an interest in lunar mining, is likely to bring the issue of extraterrestrial property rights into focus in the next few decades.

Indian activists are encouraging a boycott of the London summer Olympics to draw attention to a 1984 tragedy that killed thousands and injured many more in the town of Bhopal.

Asian shares, the euro and oil prices fell Thursday as surging borrowing costs in Spain heightened fears of euro zone debt contagion.

After having its majority share of Argentine oil company YPF seized by the government, Repsol CEO Antonio Brufau said Tuesday the company was prepared to negotiate with government officials for fair compensation.

Turkey, a growing economic powerhouse, has become an increasingly important Middle East power-broker, with Prime minister Erdogan taking an aggressive presence in world affairs

Health-conscious Californians may mostly oppose smoking for its costs to public health and the economy but an aggressive tobacco industry campaign and general anti-tax sentiment may block a measure to raise taxes on smokers.

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