The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers also filed unfair labor practice charges against Boeing.
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Alitalia said Friday it has sought bankruptcy protection, taking the first step in a plan to reshape Italy's unprofitable and debt-laden national carrier. The company said its board had asked the government to appoint an administrator and had declared insolvency to a Rome court.
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Microsoft Corp., the world's biggest software maker, agreed to buy Greenfield Online Inc. and its subsidiary Ciao GmbH for about $486 million in cash to add price-comparison sites in Europe. Munich-based Ciao, which provides consumer reviews and ratings along with prices from online merchants, will be integrated with Microsoft's Live Search platform, Microsoft said.
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Euro area inflation fell in August from a record high, offering some relief as economic confidence plunged to the lowest level in five years, the European Commission said Friday. Inflation dropped to 3.8 percent in August, down from a record high of 4 percent in June and July when prices for fuel and food rose sharply from a year ago, the E.U. statistics agency Eurostat said.
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Japan unveiled a stimulus package with 2 trillion yen ($18 billion) in fresh spending to shore up its flagging economy on Friday as figures showed that inflation has spiked to its highest in nearly 11 years, denting consumer spending.
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General Motors Corp. has started to offer early retirement packages to selected white-collar workers as part of a plan to cut 15 percent of its salaried jobs in the U.S. and Canada. GM spokesman Dan Flores said Friday that the offers will be made to workers in areas where the company is seeking to trim its work force.
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Canada's economy grew by a weaker-than-expected 0.3 percent in the second quarter after contracting more than initially reported in the first three months of the year, the government said Friday. Statistics Canada had previously reported the economy contracted by 0.3 percent in the first quarter, but revised the decline to 0.8 percent in Friday's report.
