RICHMOND, Va. (AP) -- Cigarette maker Reynolds American Inc. is planning to buy rival Lorillard Inc. for about $25 billion in a deal to combine two of the nation's oldest and biggest tobacco companies.The deal announced Tuesday would create a formidable No. 2 to rival Altria Group Inc., owner of Philip Morris USA, and will likely face scrutiny from regulators. It also could spur a wave of consolidation in the tobacco business, shrink factories and workforces, and push prices for cigarettes highe

Apple Inc. assured Chinese customers that location tracking on its iPhone can’t be used to identify activity of individuals, a day after China’s state-owned television broadcaster said the software poses a security risk. The iPhone function can collect data and may result in a leak of state secrets, China Central Television reported on July 11, citing Ma Ding, head of the online security institute at People’s Public Security University of China. In response, Apple said on its Chinese website tha

The leaders of five of the world’s largest emerging markets will showcase a new currency reserve fund and development bank this week. Critics say neither is enough to revive the group’s waning clout. Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa, known as the BRICS, will approve the creation for the $100 billion reserve fund and $50 billion bank at a July 15-16 summit in Brazil’s coastal city of Fortaleza and the capital Brasilia. The initiatives are born out of frustration with a lack of partic

Citigroup will pay $7 billion to settle an investigation into risky subprime mortgages, the type that helped fuel the financial crisis. The agreement announced Monday comes weeks after talks between the sides broke down, prompting the government to warn that it would sue the New York investment bank. The bank had offered to pay less than $4 billion, a sum substantially less than what the Justice Department was asking for. The settlement stems from the sale of securities made up of subprime mortg