PepsiCo Inc.’s (PEP) $6 billion bid for two of its bottlers is poised to have a far reaching effect across the U.S. beverage industry, spurring more cost savings for Pepsi, prompting big changes in distribution and raising the possibility of a similar move by rival Coca-Cola Co. (KO). More immediately, PepsiCo’s bid could spark a round of negotiations with the bottlers it is offering t...

A U.S. judge blocked the transfer of the personal wealth of swindler Bernard Madoff and his wife because it could be subject to forfeiture as various parties compete to lock down the assets for distribution to defrauded investors. The order on Monday by Judge Denny Chin, who oversees the criminal case against Madoff, came on the same day a bankruptcy court judge approved the appointment of an inte...

At least 21 horses have died after coming down with a mysterious ailment moments before they were scheduled to compete in the prestigious U.S. Open polo tournament. Though the Florida Department of Agriculture was conducting lab tests to determine the cause of death, veterinarians said they suspected the horses were probably killed by some sort of poison. At least 14 of the horses from Venezuela...

Microsoft’s (MSFT.O) chief executive said on Monday he was ‘very surprised’ by Oracle Corp’s (ORCL.O) plans to buy Sun Microsystems Inc (JAVA.O). “I just learnt it … I need to think about it. I am very surprised,” Steve Ballmer. Earlier on Monday Oracle unveiled a plan to buy Sun for more than $7 billion, after the high-end computer server and soft...

LITTLETON, Colo. – Teenage gunmen spilled the blood of children before Columbine, in Alaska, Arkansas, Mississippi and Oregon. After Columbine, more blood was shed in Minnesota and California, in Germany and Finland. But none of those incidents cast a shadow as long or dark as the rampage at Columbine High School, where 13 people were gunned down 10 years ago Monday. Eric Harris and Dylan Kl...

Though Boyle, the unemployed, never-been-kissed charity worker from Scotland who stunned the world with her angelic singing voice on “Britain’s Got Talent,” has gained international recognition, an underdog has emerged to challenge her hold on the reality competition’s crown. On Saturday’s “Britain’s Got Talent,” 12-year-old Shaheen Jafargholi wowed ...

The father of Slumdog Millionaire child star Rubina Ali has denied a report in Britain’s News of the World that he was prepared to place his 9-year-old daughter up for adoption for $300,000 as a “lie made up by foreign journalists playing games with me,” he tells PEOPLE. The newspaper reported that Rafiq Qureshi, 36, demanded money after it had sent reporters posing as wealthy pe...

Miss North Carolina USA Kristen Dalton was crowned Miss USA 2009 on Sunday, beating out 50 other beauty queens in the live pageant televised from Planet Hollywood Resort & Casino in Las Vegas. The 22-year-old aspiring motivational speaker and entertainer from Wilmington edged out first runner-up Miss California USA Carrie Prejean, of San Diego, and second runner-up Miss Arizona USA Alicia-Moni...

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) — If the term “serial acquirer” were actually in the dictionary, it would probably be accompanied by a picture of Oracle Chief Executive Officer Larry Ellison. Oracle (ORCL, Fortune 500) announced Monday that it was going to buy struggling server and software firm Sun Microsystems (JAVA, Fortune 500) for $9.50 a share, a 42% premium to Friday’s closi...

WASHINGTON — CIA interrogators waterboarded an Al Qaeda prisoner 183 times, according to a 2005 Justice Department legal memo, and another prisoner 83 times, the New York Times reported on Monday. Quoting the CIA inspector general in a 2004 investigation, the memo from May 30, 2005 says interrogators used the waterboard at least 83 times during August 2002 against Abu Zub...