PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - June 24
June 24 (Reuters) - The following were the top stories in The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
* The Iraqi government intends to auction off oil contracts to foreign companies for the first time in decades. Despite security risks, Western oil companies are clamoring to get in.
* A Memphis, Tennessee, hospital said Tuesday that Apple Inc (AAPL.O) Chief Executive Steve Jobs received a liver transplant there and that his prognosis was "excellent."
* Boeing Co (BA.N) again postponed the first flight of its much-delayed 787 Dreamliner due to a structural flaw that executives said was small, but which further dents the company's credibility and could hurt the new jet's future profitability.
* Oracle Corp (ORCL.O) posted a revenue decline for the first time since 2002, hurt by a strong dollar and companies' continued reluctance to spend on new technology projects.
* Spurred by billions of dollars in new government aid, car makers are racing to deliver battery-powered vehicles to the mass market -- although whether enough consumers are interested in electric cars remains untested.
* Lawmakers on a congressional oversight panel are struggling with whether to ramp up a probe into a controversial home-loan program at Countrywide Financial Corp that involved former Chief Executive Angelo Mozilo.
* Antigua and Barbuda fired a top banking regulator days after he was charged in connection with the alleged $7 billion Ponzi scheme run by Texas financier Allen Stanford.
* The Boston Globe late Tuesday reached a tentative agreement with its largest union on a package of wage and benefits cuts intended to curb deepening losses at New England's biggest daily and streamline it for sale.
* Existing-home sales rose a second month in a row during May, but prices again fell sharply, threatening a delay to a housing sector recovery.
* European regulators have laid out operating guidelines for Facebook, MySpace and other social-networking Web sites to ensure they comply with the region's privacy laws, in a move to address concerns about the handling of users' personal information.
* Intel Corp (INTC.O) and Nokia (NOK1V.HE) struck a broad alliance aimed at developing designs for new kinds of portable gadgets and the chips that would be used in them, though the companies provided few details.
