Miami Heat and LeBron James win NBA title.

Abbott challenges ease of biotech drug copies.

Air France to cut 5,000 jobs.

Benetton takes Cannes award with "Unhate" campaign.

Best Buy tells investors its turnaround plan involves boosting training and services.

CBS plans to launch sports radio network.

Dow Jones plans to take Smart Money magazine to web only.Continue reading...

AMR CEO defends job cuts at American Airlines.

AOL doubles down with investment in Huffington Post streaming TV network.

Apple dealt legal setback against Motorola, expands patent fight with Samsung.

Amazon could burn through its cash.

AstraZeneca plans to cut another 7,300 jobs.

Banana Republic brings back Mad Men collection with AMC.

Chipotle holds the line on pricing.

Chrysler re-launches in U.K. with Super Bowl spot on Sky.

Coca-Cola ties effort encouraging teens to Black History Month.Continue reading...

Air Canada avoids strike for now; hits union with labor-board unfair practices complaint.

Apple defeats Samsung in Australian tablet patent case; prepares to offer movies over the "cloud."

Carrefour cuts its profit targets.

Citigroup's Vikram Panda ready to talk with Occupy Wall Street protesters; calls their concerns "completely understandable."

JPMorgan profits sink.Continue reading...

Following a week of speculation, News International CEO Rebekah Brooks stepped down today (joined later in the day by Dow Jones CEO Les Hinton) as the beleaguered Murdoch family battles to defend its media interests.

News Corp. didn't include her resignation statement in the press release announcing that Sky Italia CEO Tom Mockridge would move over within News Corp. to take over her role, although the Guardian posted her memo to employees.

“As chief executive of the company, I feel a deep sense of responsibility for the people we have hurt and I want to reiterate how sorry I am for what we now know to have taken place," Brooks told staffers.Continue reading...

Since News Corp. acquired Dow Jones and the crown-jewel Wall Street Journal nearly four years ago, the world has undergone a financial meltdown, the Great Recession socked media spending in the key United States market, and the entire American newspaper business has gone into meltdown mode.

And, oh yes – the rival New York Times has only begun to figure out how to monetize its own content online with its recent paywall introduction, several years after The Journal successfully blazed paywall trails.

Through all of that, the venerable Journal has kept on piling up success. It is the one notable exception to the continued black hole of circulation declines at major U.S. newspapers; the paper posted an 8% increase in circulation revenue for the first quarter, its 17th straight quarter of year-over-year growth.

Print ad and overall revenues also have been rising, adding yet other unique achievements to what the Journal has been able to accomplish while adjusting to new ownership and one of the most disruptive economic periods in the publication’s long history.Continue reading...

Dow closes above 12,000 for first time since Japan quake on momentum from big deals, easing nuclear worries as Japan reports progress (though contamination fears linger) and the nation starts to rebuild its infrastructure.

With shares of AT&T and Deutsche Telekom trading up, Verizon and Sprint attract speculation in wake of AT&T/T-Mobile deal.

Facebook is getting serious about payments.

Microsoft is suing Barnes & Noble over the Android OS in its Nook e-book reader.

NFL and players' legal jousting continued today.

Former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty eyes the 2012 Republican presidential candidacy.Continue reading...

Apple to compete with Google by acquiring mobile ad network Quattro wireless. [Adage]

Kraft Foods sweetens its hostile takeover bid for Cadbury. [NYT]

Ten years later, ex Time Warner Chief apologizes for "worst deal of the century." [FT]

Nestle promotes new candy bar via social media. [BrandWeek]

Visa uses card fees and signatures to profit from purchases. [NYT]

Apple finally to ship "Tablet" in March after mounting speculation. [WSJ]Continue reading...