Bizworld: Jury Awards $6.1 Million to Woman Strip- Searched in Caller Hoax

ABN Amro takeover

Barclays withdraws bid

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands | A consortium of three banks led by Royal Bank of Scotland PLC is all but certain to win the battle to buy ABN Amro Holding NV in a deal worth 70.5 billion euros, or about $100 billion.

ABN Amro’s rival suitor, Barclays PLC, bowed out Friday, conceding that only a tiny fraction of shareholders had tendered their shares to its offer, which was worth around 11 percent less.

That leaves the field to the RBS-led group, which plans to divide up ABN Amro under the oversight of RBS Chief Executive Fred Goodwin.

ABN Amro’s management initially preferred Barclays’ offer, resisting what it saw as a “breakup scenario” that would mean the end of its 183-year history.

Southwest Airlines

employee tells man to change T-shirt

TAMPA, Fla. | Southwest Airlines said it will apologize to a passenger who was told he would be removed from a flight if he didn’t change clothes, the second time in recent months the budget carrier has been forced to do so.

Joe Winiecki, of Largo, Fla., boarded a Southwest flight wearing a fictional fishing shop T-shirt that featured a vulgar pun.

Winiecki said he was in his seat when an employee told him he had to change his T-shirt, turn it inside out or get off the plane.

Southwest spokesman Chris Mainz said the employee made a mistake because the airline does not have a dress code.

earnings

Merrill Lynch posts loss

Investment bank Merrill Lynch & Co. said Friday credit and mortgage woes will lead it to post a third-quarter loss .

The $5 billion writedown essentially erases more than half of Merrill Lynch’s net income during the prior 12 months.

washington mutual reports drop

Washington Mutual Inc. said Friday that the weak housing market and the recent mortgage crunch will lead to a 75 percent drop in its third-quarter net income .

WaMu, the nation’s largest savings bank, reported net income of $748 million in the third quarter of 2006, meaning third-quarter 2007 net income is likely to be somewhere around $187 million.

– From wire reports SHEPHERDSVILLE, Ky. | A jury awarded $6.1 million Friday to a woman who was forced to strip for a search in a McDonald’s back office after someone called the restaurant posing as a police officer reporting a theft.

Louise Ogborn, who was 18 during the 31/2-hour ordeal, was forced to undress and perform sexual acts while the man was on the phone with the bogus caller, according to video evidence. Ogborn, 21, sued McDonald’s Corp., claiming th ey failed to warn her and other employees about the caller who already struck other McDonald’s stores and other fast-food restaurants across the country. dividends

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Industrias Bachoco z ..216310-1110-22

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