Verizon sets stage for MCI bidding war

NEW YORK -- A potential bidding war for MCI Inc. took shape Wednesday as merger partner Verizon Communications Inc. freed the long-distance telephone company to discuss a higher bid from Qwest Communications Inc. -- which welcomed the decision, but sent a prickly response. MCI set a two-week time frame for talks and a full evaluation of the revised $8 billion bid submitted last week by Qwest, the local phone company for most of the Rocky Mountains and Pacific Northwest. That offer is $1.2 billion richer than the price agreed to Feb. 14 by Verizon, which dominates Northeast and Mid-Atlantic.

Calif. flu-vaccine maker to resume production

NEW YORK -- British regulators gave the go-ahead Wednesday for Chiron Corp. to resume production of flu vaccine, ending a five-month suspension that caused widespread shortages in the United States. Chiron's stock jumped more than 6 percent. The company said it plans to begin production immediately in anticipation of getting clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration so it can have vaccine available for the flu season starting this fall. In October, Britain's Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) barred the Emeryville, Calif.-based company from shipping to the United States some 48 million doses of its Fluvirin-branded flu medicine made in its Liverpool, England, factory because of contamination concerns.

Prosecutor: ChoicePoint identity thefts not recent

ATLANTA -- A newly revealed case shows that the vast commercial database of personal information at ChoicePoint Inc. was tapped by identity thieves in 2002 -- contradicting a statement by its CEO that a much more recent breach was the first of its kind. A Nigerian-born brother and sister were charged in 2002 who made 7,000 to 10,000 inquiries on names and Social Security numbers in the database and used some of those identities to commit at least $1 million worth of fraud, a federal prosecutor said Wednesday.

US Airways holiday fiasco blamed on poor planning

WASHINGTON -- Poor planning and poor labor relations at US Airways helped lead to delays and cancellations that inconvenienced a half-million holiday travelers in December, according to a federal investigation released Wednesday. By contrast, the report by Transportation Department inspector general Kenneth Mead determined that holiday delays and cancellations at Comair, a Delta Air Lines-owned regional carrier, were largely beyond the airline's control.