Reuters - Telecommunications providers like AT&T Inc. intensified their efforts this week to persuade US policymakers to avoid imposing regulations on the Internet for services like streaming movies and unfettered Web access.

AFP - French telecom technology provider Alcatel and US equipment firm Lucent Technologies revealed that they were considering a marriage creating a group worth about 33.0 billion dollars.

Reuters - French telecoms equipment provider Alcatel is in talks with its smaller U.S. rival Lucent Technologies to create a combine with sales of 21 billion euros ($25.33 billion), the companies said late on Thursday.

AFP - French telecom technology provider Alcatel and US telecom equipment firm Lucent Technologies are in negotiations on a possible merger, the two groups announced in a brief joint statement without giving financial details.

Reuters - U.S. telecom equipment maker Lucent Technologies and its French rival Alcatel confirmed late on Thursday they are discussing a potential merger of equals.

AP - Lucent Technologies Inc. and French telecom equipment maker Alcatel SA are discussing a merger in what could be the start of consolidation among the companies that help power telephone and Internet networks.

AP - In the aftermath of the Dubai ports dispute, the Bush administration is hiring a Hong Kong conglomerate to help detect nuclear materials inside cargo passing through the Bahamas to the United States and elsewhere.

AP - In the aftermath of the Dubai ports dispute, the Bush administration is hiring a Hong Kong conglomerate to help detect nuclear materials inside cargo passing through the Bahamas to the United States and elsewhere.

AP - A North Korean cargo ship seized after being used to smuggle heroin into Australia was sunk Thursday when the Australian air force used the vessel for target practice.

AFP - Japan said its trade balance had swung back into surplus in February after the first deficit for five years in January as exports soared thanks to a strong global economy and a weaker yen.

Reuters - Two Australian fighter jets bombed and sank an impounded North Korean cargo ship on Thursday in what Foreign Minister Alexander Downer said was a strong message to Pyonyang about its involvement in drug running.

AP - The European Union on Wednesday banned 92, mostly African airlines from landing at European airports, declaring them unsafe by international standards. The ban applies to cargo and passenger carriers from Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Sierra Leone, Swaziland and Liberia judged to have an "inadequate system for regulatory oversight" or insufficient safety standards.

AP - Omar Bravo scored with a flying header to give Chivas a 2-1 victory over Sao Paulo on Tuesday night and put the Mexican team in first place in Group 1 of the Copa Libertadores.

Reuters - Producer Marty Richards won an Oscar for the 2002 movie "Chicago" but claims to have lost millions in royalties and is suing Miramax Films to get his hands on the cash.

AP - Russia wants to show that it can be a "credible, stable and reliable" energy partner for the European Union and is ready to start negotiations that could lead to a formal pact, European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso said Tuesday.

Reuters - Wireless technology company Qualcomm Inc. said on Tuesday a U.S. court has dismissed all claims brought against the company by Whale Telecom in a lawsuit filed in November 2004.

AP - Israel on Tuesday reopened the Gaza Strip's main cargo crossing to alleviate a food shortage in the area, Palestinian officials said.

AP - A producer of the Academy Award-winning movie "Chicago" filed a $10 million lawsuit Monday against Miramax Films Corp., accusing it of failing to his company its share of hundred of millions of dollars the movie earned.