Path: bloom-picayune.mit.edu!snorkelwacker.mit.edu!americast.com!americast.com!americast-post Newsgroups: americast.twt.metro From: americast-post@AmeriCast.Com Organization: American Cybercasting Approved: americast-post@AmeriCast.com Subject: Headline Article Date: Mon, 16 Nov 92 17:03:26 EST Message-ID: \SE B;METROPOLITAN;MONEY;BUSINESS ROUNDUP \BY FROM WIRE DISPATCHES AND STAFF REPORTS S=NEW STORY From missiles to heart clamps DEERFIELD, Ill. - Baxter International Inc., a major manufacturer of hospital equipment, said yesterday it will produce surgical instruments at a Moscow plant that once built missile guidance systems for the Soviet military. Baxter will own 75 percent of the joint venture, which will employ 200 and begin production in June 1993, making hand-held surgical instruments. S=NEW STORY Japan may crush Bud beer plan TOKYO -The Fair Trade Commission is reluctant to approve a planned joint venture in Japan between the two Japanese and U.S. beer brewers, Kirin sources reported Saturday. The sources said Kirin Brewery Co. and Anheuser-Busch Inc., the maker of Budweiser beer, have shown a draft plan for their joint beer sales venture to the FTC. The commission was concerned the partnership will further enhance Kirin's dominance of the Japanese market for domestic beer, the sources said. Kirin now has more than half of the Japanese market. S=NEW STORY Major verdict from the back seat TAMPA, Fla. - A federal jury has ordered General Motors Corp. to pay $3.7 million to a man left paralyzed after his 1986 Chevrolet crashed into another car. The jury, in a decision issued late Friday, found GM negligent for failing to install rear-seat shoulder restraints. The verdict included nearly $1 million for the man's spouse. In Detroit, GM spokesman John Dinan said he did not have enough data on the verdict to comment. S=NEW STORY Oil traders: Iraqi return illogical DUBAI - Gulf Arabs are confident Iraq is unlikely to export oil freely while President Saddam Hussein remains in power and dismiss oil market jitters about a possible early Iraqi return. Traders "are taking the possible return of Iraq much too seriously. There is no evidence to suggest that a resumption of Iraqi oil exports is imminent," one senior Arab oil official said yesterday. "It is illogical, completely unfounded," said another. The oil market for several weeks has been concerned that OPEC states were producing too much oil. S=NEW STORY Mirror removes Maxwell masthead LONDON - Mirror Group Newspapers announced yesterday it was replacing editors at its top three papers, further distancing the company from the scandals that surfaced after former owner Robert Maxwell's death just over a year ago. A company statement said David Banks, a former editor of the Telegraph Mirror in Sydney, Australia, replaced Richard Stott as editor of the flagship Daily Mirror and that Mr. Banks comes to the post "without any of the Maxwell experience that still infects the operation." S=NEW STORY Woeful report from 'five wise men' BONN - The German government's independent Council of Economic Advisers expects the Western German economy to show zero growth in 1993, the Sueddeutsche Zeitung reported yesterday. The newspaper obtained an advance copy of the annual report by the Council, nicknamed the "Five Wise Men," which is due to be presented today. The prognosis would be the gloomiest yet by leading economists. S=NEW STORY Dealer suit: No cars, no sales CLEVELAND - General Motors Corp. has paid $7.5 million to a former Ohio auto dealer who said he was forced to close his business because GM didn't give him enough cars to sell. Daniel Nester, who owned a Chevrolet outlet in Painesville, sued GM in 1982, contending the automaker gave more popular models to a nearby dealership largely owned by GM. "I can't think of any other case . . . that has ever given that much money to a dealer for lack of good faith on behalf of the franchiser," said William Newman of the National Automobile Dealers Association. GM admitted no wrongdoing, a spokesman said Saturday. This article is copyright 1992 The Washington Times. Redistribution to other sites is not permitted except by arrangement with American Cybercasting Corporation. For more information, send-email to usa@AmeriCast.COM