PRESS DIGEST - New York Times business news - Jan 15

Jan 15 (Reuters) - The following were the top stories in the New York Times business pages on Tuesday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

* A clinical trial of Zetia, a widely used cholesterol drug, has raised questions about its effectiveness and the behavior of pharmaceutical companies that conducted the study.

* In a sign of growing concern about the impact of supposedly "green" policies, European Union officials will propose a ban on imports of certain biofuels, according to a draft law to be unveiled next week.

* Citigroup Inc (C.N) is expected to announce on Tuesday 4,000 additional job cuts, a steep cut in its stock dividend, and another boost from foreign investors.

* International Business Machines Corp's (IBM.N) quarterly profit - up 24 percent - may not be as reliable an indicator of broader trends in the American economy as in the past.

* Evidence of an abrupt slowdown in consumer spending mounted Monday as Sears Holdings Corp (SHLD.O), the owner of Sears and Kmart, warned that its profit would most likely plunge as much as 57 percent for the three months ending in early February.

* Terra Firma, the private-equity firm that recently acquired the music company EMI Group, plans to announce a reorganization Tuesday, including the elimination of close to a third of EMI's staff, according to people briefed on the plans.

* Howell Raines, who lost the top newsroom job at The New York Times in 2003 amid public rancor and scandal, will become a media columnist at Conde Nast Portfolio.

* My Space, the country's largest social-networking Web site has agreed with attorneys general of 49 states to take new steps to protect children from sexual predators on its site.

* Special prosecutors investigating the Samsung Group raided the office of its chairman, Lee Kun-hee, and the homes of his aides on Monday, a unusual move in a country both proud and suspicious of family-run conglomerates.

* The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CM.TO) said on Monday that it would issue 2.75 billion Canadian dollars in stock at substantially discounted prices as part of an effort to ease investor anxiety about its subprime mortgage exposure.

* Europe's antitrust regulator has opened two new investigations into claims that Microsoft Corp (MSFT.O) has abused its dominant market position.

* Tysabri, a treatment for multiple sclerosis made by Biogen Idec (BIIB.O) and Elan Corp (ELN.I), received regulatory approval on Monday for use among patients with a severe intestinal disorder.

* Genentech Inc DNA.N reported a 6 percent rise in fourth-quarter profit, but its stock slipped after news that its cancer drug, Avastin, failed to meet sales expectations.

* A consortium of foreign companies has resolved a dispute over Kazakhstan's giant Kashagan oil field by agreeing to pay the government a bonus of up to $4.5 billion and to transfer 8.5 percent of the project to the national oil company of Kazakhstan.

* The European Commission has shelved plans to change the trade rules that allow it to retaliate against countries that sell goods below their market value.