PRESS DIGEST - Wall Street Journal - July 21

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

* UBS AG's (UBSN.VX) battle with the IRS over bank secrecy has some smaller Swiss financial firms declining deposits from U.S.-based customers.

* Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) has dismissed two top executives following an internal inquiry into whether the company conducted surveillance on a board member and others.

* CIT Group Inc CIT.N put the finishing touches on a $3 billion private-sector bailout plan, but the lender's long-term success may still hinge on the mercy of bank regulators.

* Yahoo Inc (YHOO.O) is expected to launch its new homepage Tuesday, months earlier than previously planned. The biggest change in the design is a menu users can customize with links to third-party software.

* Volkswagen AG's (VOWG.DE) plan to acquire Porsche SE's (PSHG_p.DE) auto business has run into fresh complications over a potential multibillion-dollar tax liability and growing tensions between the two camps, said people familiar with the matter.

* Barnes & Noble Inc (BKS.N) stepped onto the nascent electronic-book battleground with Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) and Sony Corp (6758.T), saying it would launch its own e-bookstore with bestsellers priced at $9.99, in line with its rivals.

* The special inspector general overseeing the $700 billion financial-sector bailout said the U.S. Treasury Department is not disclosing enough information about how taxpayer money is being spent.

* Sony Corp's (6758.T) Sony Pictures and Redbox Automated Retail LLC have signed a multiyear deal to supply Redbox's video rental kiosks with Sony films, underscoring Hollywood's growing acceptance of the kiosk rental model.

* Halliburton Co (HAL.N) posted strong second-quarter earnings in its international business, bolstering industry hopes that rising oil prices could lead to a rebound in global drilling activity much earlier than previously expected.

* TD Ameritrade Inc (AMTD.O) agreed to buy back $456 million of auction-rate securities from about 4,000 clients as part of a settlement with New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and Pennsylvania securities regulators.

* As U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke heads to Capitol Hill for two days of testimony on the economy, the Fed is fending off attacks from critics who want to rein in its power and autonomy.

* Detroit's public-school system, beset by massive deficits and corruption, is on the brink of filing for bankruptcy protection.

* Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and California legislative leaders said they reached a compromise to close the state's $26 billion budget shortfall.

* The U.S. and India announced deals that could bring American defense contractors and power companies billions of dollars in business as Hillary Clinton wrapped up her first visit as secretary of state to the South Asian nation.

* China denied links to a Chinese-born engineer who was convicted in the U.S. last week of stealing trade secrets for China during his 30-year career at Boeing and Rockwell International.