* Rising vacancy rates across the United States could make it hard for
building owners to pay their mortgages.
* Each of the six largest automakers, including foreign and domestic brands,
is expected to say that its sales in the United States fell at least 30 percent
in December.
* Google Inc's book search may allow writers to make money from
titles that had been out of commercial circulation for years.
* In a deal that signifies further reordering in Hollywood's specialty movie
business, the Universal Pictures unit of General Electric Co completed its
sale of Rogue Pictures, a maker and distributor of lower-cost films, to
Relativity Media for about $150 million.
* A politically tinged dispute over the price of fuel has led to a complete
halt in supplies to Ukraine and disruptions to four other Eastern European
countries.
* President-elect Barack Obama and Democrats in Congress are planning swift
action to overturn a Supreme Court decision that made it much harder for people
to challenge discrimination in employment, education, housing and other
fields.
* Amid a relentless string of layoffs and pay-freeze announcements, book
publishers are clamping down on some of the business's most glittery and cozy
traditions.