PRESS DIGEST - New York Times business news - Jan 5

Jan 5 (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.

* Signs of revival on the factory floor emerged in the United States and Asia on Monday, fueling exultant buying on Wall Street and reinforcing a sense that genuine economic recovery was unfolding.

* Google Inc's (GOOG.O) expected unveiling on Tuesday of a rival to the iPhone is part of its careful plan to try to do what few other technology companies have done before: retain its leadership as computing shifts from one generation to the next.

* A combination of frigid weather, expectations of an improving economy and new tensions between Russia and Belarus catapulted crude oil prices above $81 a barrel on Monday to the highest close in nearly 15 months.

* Just one month after a close brush with bankruptcy, Dubai celebrated the opening of the world's tallest building on Monday -- a rocket-shaped edifice that soars 2,717 feet and has views that reach 60 miles.

* Investors at four high-end resorts have filed a class-action lawsuit against Credit Suisse Group AG (CSGN.VX) and the real estate services company Cushman & Wakefield, contending that they conspired to inflate the value of the properties so they could take them over.

* Panasonic (6752.T) and LG Electronics (066570.KS), two of the top television makers, are to announce that they are integrating the free online calling service Skype into their Internet-connected high-definition televisions.

* Novartis (NOVN.VX), the large Swiss drug maker, said Monday that it would take control of the eye care company Alcon ACL.N by buying a majority stake from Nestle (NESN.VX) for $28.1 billion. The move would raise its stake in Alcon to 77 percent, and Novartis said it was interested in acquiring the rest of the shares.

* Biogen Idec (BIIB.O) said Monday that James Mullen would retire as president and chief executive as of June 8.

* In a new setback for a controversial wind farm proposed off Cape Cod, the National Park Service announced Monday that Nantucket Sound was eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, guaranteeing further delays for the project.

* Health spending grew in 2008 at the slowest pace in 48 years as the recession throttled back the explosive growth of health costs, the federal government reported Monday.

* The Internal Revenue Service plans to start regulating paid tax preparers, requiring them to register with the government, pass competency tests and adhere to ethical standards.

* The military contractor Northrop Grumman said on Monday that it would move its corporate office from Los Angeles to the Washington area to be closer to major government customers.

* Dow Jones & Company, owned by the News Corp (NWSA.O), said Monday that it was dismantling the divisions separating its flagship newspaper, The Wall Street Journal, from the unit that oversees its investment tools and other services.

* General Motors Co [GM.UL] said on Monday that 2009 sales in China by the company and its local partners rose 67 percent, to a record 1.8 million vehicles, partly because of tax cuts and incentives to help bolster the industry.