PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - Aug 11
Aug 11 (Reuters) - The following were the top stories in The Wall Street Journal on Monday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
* Russia broadened its military campaign against neighboring Georgia, as Tbilisi pulled back its battered troops. Moscow's massive assault marks a watershed in an increasingly assertive foreign policy. Efforts at a cease-fire failed, with Russia dismissing Western appeals.
* Five credit unions are reporting paper losses on mortgage-related securities large enough to wipe out their net worth. While the losses could be reversed if markets stabilize, it is a sign housing-market distress is spreading to risk- averse financial sectors.
* Most states mandate that companies tell customers when their credit-card data is stolen from the stores. But only four retailers of the nine from which computer hackers stole over 40 million credit-card numbers alerted customers.
* American Airlines and two European partners plan to ask the U.S. for permission to cooperate more closely on trans-Atlantic flights in a move to help them cope with high fuel costs and stiffer competition.
* Apple Inc (AAPL.O) CEO Steve Jobs said users have downloaded over 60 million programs for the iPhone from a Web software clearinghouse. If sales stay at the current pace, Apple stands to reap at least $360 million a year in new revenue.
* NBC's first two primetime Olympic broadcasts drew more viewers than any Summer Games in a decade, easing worries that Internet footage would erode TV audiences.
* Eager to keep one of its key employees, publicly traded Fortress Investment Group LLC (FIG.N) has lavished a $300 million share grant on one of its star traders, 38-year-old Adam Levinson.
* Windstream Corp WIN.N, reporting a 12 percent decline in net income, renewed interest in its merger prospects, saying it views telecommunications consolidation as an important part of its strategy.
* A retreat by private-sector lenders from the market for education loans is threatening to keep thousands of students out of college in the coming academic year.
* China's government is confronting the limits of its control, as a deadly attack on an American near the capital's historic center and violence in its restive northwest that killed 11 people tarnished the opening days of the Olympic Games.
* Verizon Communications Inc (VZ.N) reached a deal with two labor unions covering 65,000 workers, averting a potential strike that could have affected installation and repair operations in Northeastern and Mid-Atlantic states.
