From wire reports

GM, Chrysler offer holiday incentives

Two of the three major U.S. automakers have sweetened their incentive packages for the holidays, a move predicted by some analysts as the companies try to meet year-end sales goals.

General Motors Corp. on Thursday announced a holiday financing package for several 2003 sport utility vehicles. Earlier this week, DaimlerChrysler AG's Chrysler Group improved financing terms on most Dodge and Chrysler minivans for the coming month.

Ford Motor Co. has not announced any additional incentives for the holidays.

Merrill Lynch analyst John Casesa said earlier this week he expects incentive activity to increase this month as automakers strive to meet year-end market share targets.

European Central Bank cuts rates

The European Central Bank tried to give the continent's flagging economy a lift Thursday with a half-percentage point cut in interest rates - a step aimed at boosting confidence despite worries about turbulent stock markets and possible war with Iraq.

Faced with gloomy economic forecasts, bank president Wim Duisenberg said the bank's governing council had weighed "not even the `if' of a cut, but how much."

The ECB cut its key refinancing rate to 2.75 percent from 3.25 percent, where it had stood for 13 months to the growing dismay of governments, investors and many economists.

Dole Food extends buyout talks deadline

Dole Food Co. chairman David Murdock extended to Dec. 18 the deadline for talks to acquire the 76 percent of the company his family doesn't already own, according to a regulatory filing Thursday.

Mr. Murdock said he again extended the deadline after discussions Wednesday with the board special committee handling the negotiations.

Mr. Murdock offered in September to buy the rest of Dole for $29.50 a share. The special committee, made up of independent directors, rejected the offer and said it would negotiate for a higher price while its financial adviser contacted other interested parties.

FCC plans hearing on media ownership

Federal regulators are planning a hearing in February to get public opinion on a broad government review of rules that limit the ownership of newspapers and radio and television stations.

Michael Powell, chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, said the hearing in Richmond, Va., will supplement the agency's 12 recent studies on media ownership issues.

"The commission is committed to developing a set of media ownership rules that are internally consistent, tailored to the modern media marketplace and empirically justified," Mr. Powell said Wednesday.

France Telecom plans to restructure

France Telecom plans to make operational improvements, including 22,000 job cuts and rescheduled debt payments, as part of a long-awaited restructuring plan aimed at reasserting the telecommunications operator's control over its own future after buying left it heavily in debt.

Chairman Thierry Breton told a news conference Thursday that the company faces "an unprecedented financial crisis," with an estimated 50 billion euros ($50 billion) in debt coming due over the next three years.

Mr. Breton said the company plans to reduce jobs by 22,000, or 15.7 percent of the work force, in the next three years through early retirements and voluntary departures.

Higher shipments of computers predicted

After sliding for more than a year, worldwide shipments of personal computers are supposed to swing back into a weak climbing mode - and leap by more than 8 percent next year, according to projections from technology research firm IDC.

The firm estimates global PC sales will rise to 136 million, 1.6 percent above last year's total of 134 million - but still below the peak in 2000 of almost 140 million machines.

Leading the growth is a surge in laptop purchases in the second half of 2002 that IDC estimates at almost 14 percent above last year's levels.