Budweiser beer brewer Anheuser-Busch has rejected the $46 billion takeover proposal made by rival InBev two weeks ago, saying the suggested deal was financially inadequate.  ┬á On June 11th the Belgian-Brazilian brewer InBev, best known for its Stella Artois brand, made an unsolicited, non-binding proposal to acquire all outstanding shares of Anheuser-Busch for $65 per share.

Research In Motion, the Canadian maker of the BlackBerry mobile phone and e-mail device, has doubled its first quarter revenue and earnings, but its shares fell overnight on a weaker than expected second quarter forecast.  ┬á The Waterloo, Ontario company announced earnings of $482.5 million yesterday (84 cents per share) for the three months ended May 31, up from $223.2 million in the same period a year earlier.

Demand for US-made durable goods remained flat in May, with higher orders for airplanes and defense goods offsetting weaker sales of machinery and metals, according to Commerce Department figures released today. ┬á Excluding demand for transportation equipment (which rose 2.6 percent), orders for durable goods fell 0.9 percent, the first drop in three months. Defense orders were up 10.9 percent, but after taking them away, total orders fell 0.6 percent.

Bunge Ltd., a premier producer of fertilizer and soybean-based foods, has agreed to buy Westchester-based Corn Products International in an all stock deal worth $4.4 billion to gain access to its line of starches and sweeteners.  ┬á The sale "provides a unique opportunity for Bunge to establish an integrated, global presence in the corn value chain, which is highly complementary to our existing operations," Bunge Chairman Alberto Weisser said Monday.

Oil prices rose again today, after emergency talks over the weekend between the worldÔÇÖs top oil powers and representatives from the major oil consuming nations failed to reach a concrete resolution.  ┬á The meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, was attended by energy ministers from more than 30 countries as well as senior executives from the world's largest oil companies, amid concerns that recent record oil prices are helping tip the US and other major economies towards recession.┬á┬á The US, UK and other major consumers of oil have urged producers to boost supply, blaming

Jason 2, a joint US-French oceanographic monitoring satellite that will be critical to our understanding of climate change, was successfully launched into space last night from California's Vandenberg Air Force base.  ┬á Jason 2 is a high-tech oceanography space lab designed to monitor sea levels and currents. It will take readings with an accuracy of better than four centimeters. Its data will track not only rises in sea levels but also reveal how masses of waters are moving around the globe.

Boeing could well get a second chance to bid for a $40 billion US Air Force tanker contract after a ruling by a government agency.  ┬á The Government Accountability Office (GAO) has upheld Boeing's protest against the awarding of the air tanker deal to a rival consortium comprising Northrop Grumman and Airbus maker EADS. ┬á┬á "The Air Force made a number of significant errors that could have affected the outcome of what was a close competition,ÔÇØ the GAO said in a statement.

A federal regulator of US oil contract traders has announced steps to restrain the excessive speculation that many experts believe are driving up gasoline prices.  ┬á The Commodities Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), a previously obscure regulatory agency now in the global spotlight, announced the change in oil-trading regulations yesterday. ┬á┬á The measures announced will require buyers of US oil contracts on the London-based Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) to abide by US regulations for the first time.

Software specialist Adobe Systems has reported a 41 percent increase in second-quarter profit as strong revenue growth overseas offset flat sales in the United States.  ┬á Adobe, whose brands include Photoshop, Flash and Acrobat, revealed net income in the three months to May 30 of $214.9 million, up from $152.5 million in the same quarter a year ago. ┬á┬á Second quarter revenue rose 19 percent to $887 million, led by a 40 percent increase in sales in Europe.

Japanese auto manufacturer Honda launched the first commercial production of a hydrogen fuel cell-powered car Sunday in Tochigi, Japan, and said its first customers will be in the United States. The four-door sedan, called the FCX Clarity, runs on electricity from a fuel cell battery powered by hydrogen. Steam is its only by-product. ┬á┬á The car boasts a combined (city and highway driving) fuel efficiency of about 72 miles per kg of H2 which, according to Honda's own estimates, is the equivalent of getting about 74 mpg from a gas-powered car.