Business in brief: Siemens to cut 16,750 jobs worldwide

Industrial conglomerate Siemens AG said Tuesday it will cut 16,750 jobs, or 4.2 percent of its global work force, to streamline operations and slice nearly $2 billion in costs in the face of a slowing economy.

The Munich-based maker of products ranging from light bulbs and medical equipment to high-speed trains and power turbines has a worldwide work force of approximately 400,000 people.

WASHINGTON

Improvements coming in crash test ratings

Attention car shoppers: The government is upgrading its crash test program to offer better information about vehicle safety.

The Bush administration outlined changes to safety ratings, which grade new vehicles on a scale of up to five stars.

The program, to start with the 2010 models, will still assess passenger cars, pickup trucks, sport utility vehicles and vans on the five-star scale but will add an overall safety rating that combines scores from several crash tests.

ST. LOUIS

Anheuser-Busch files suit against takeover

Anheuser-Busch claims that Belgian brewer InBev’s takeover bid isn’t just bad for the bottom line, but is an “illegal scheme” that threatens to defraud Anheuser-Busch shareholders if a federal judge doesn’t step in.

Anheuser-Busch Cos. made the claim in a lawsuit filed late Monday, hours after InBev SA filed its own motion seeking to oust Anheuser-Busch’s board of directors. The lawsuit claims that InBev is deceiving shareholders about the company’s $46 billion takeover bid by concealing a number of facts.

PITTSBURGH

Alcoa’s earnings drop 24 percent

Aluminum producer Alcoa Inc. said its second-quarter earnings fell nearly 24 percent as higher prices failed to offset raw material and facility outage costs.

The Pittsburgh-based company earned $546 million, or 66 cents per share, for the quarter that ended June 30, compared with $715 million, or 81 cents per share, during the same period a year earlier.

Quarterly revenue dropped about 6 percent to $7.6 billion.

From wire reports