U.S. focus on strong dollar

        The United States is committed to a strong dollar and doesn't plan to change its policy, although the Bush administration hasn't necessarily ruled out intervening in currency markets, Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill said.

        “The policy is the same. There's no attempt to change it,” Mr. O'Neill said during a press conference before departing for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation conference in Suzhou, China, this weekend.
       

Yahoo peddles e-books

        Yahoo! Inc. will sell electronic books from four publishers on its Internet site, giving consumers online access to works from authors such as Stephen King and Patricia Cornwell.

        The company, owner of the most-used site for Web searching, will offer more than 1,000 titles from Pearson Plc's Penguin Putnam division, Viacom Inc.'s Simon & Schuster, Bertelsmann AG's Random House and News Corp.'s HarperCollins.

        Yahoo will receive commissions from the publisher for each sale.
       

Staples names new CEO

        Staples Inc., the No. 2 U.S. office-supply retailer, said president and chief operating officer Ronald Sargent, 45, will succeed co-founder Thomas Stemberg as chief executive next year.

        Mr. Stemberg, 52, was named executive chairman, and will oversee public and investor relations as well as new growth opportunities. The promotions are effective Feb. 3.
       

China nears broadcast deal

        Looking to spread its culture through television, China said Wednesday that it is near an extraordinary agreement to allow direct foreign broadcasts into citizens' homes — if an English-language channel run by the Chinese government is disseminated across the United States.

        The agreement, if successful, would mean American cable boxes could serve up authentic Chinese cooking shows, homegrown kung fu dramas, even newscasts straight from the central government in Beijing.

        Under the proposed deal, News Corp. and AOL Time Warner Inc. could broadcast programming to homes in parts of southern China.

        In return, the two companies would ensure wide access to the United States for CCTV-9, which is part of China's main state television network.
       

Concorde to fly

        British and French officials cleared the luxury Concorde for takeoff, laying out a series of safety modifications Wednesday that will enable the world's only commercial supersonic jet to return to service a year after a deadly crash killed 113 people.

        Air France grounded its Concorde fleet immediately after one of its jets crashed after takeoff from Paris on July 25, 2000.

        British Airways said it intended to resume London-New York supersonic service soon. Air France plans to resume commercial Concorde flights in November.

Germany gets Starbucks

        Department store operator KarstadtQuelle AG announced a joint venture Wednesday with U.S. coffee chain operator Starbucks Corp.

        KarstadtQuelle chairman Wolfgang Urban said “the decision on the partnership has been made in principle,” but that it was too early to say exactly when the first German Starbucks would open.

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