PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - Sept 21

Sept 21 (Reuters) - The following were the top stories in the Wall Street Journal on Friday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

* Apple Inc's move to replace Google Inc's mapping software with its own on its mobile devices sparked a world-wide consumer backlash, marking a rare strategic blunder by a company more accustomed to rave reviews from users.

* Glencore International Plc's seven-month quest to seal a merger deal with Xstrata Plc is nearing a climax, with expectations building that Xstrata's board will endorse Glencore's latest proposal and pave the way for the creation of a $75 billion mining and commodity-trading colossus.

* An interest-rate-fixing scandal this summer felled a number of Barclays Plc executives. But a top Barclays compliance official, who was notified in 2008 about problems brewing within the bank, is now in a similar senior position at another major bank.

* The global economic slowdown is ensnaring two of Germany's luxury auto makers with Daimler AG on Thursday warning that its Mercedes-Benz division would miss its profit target for the year and Porsche preparing for weaker demand next year.

* A federal judge ordered Taiwan-based AU Optronics Corp to pay $500 million for participating in a conspiracy to fix prices on liquid-crystal-display panels.