The toll from strikes at General Motors plants in Michigan is rising, with GM shutting two more assembly operations, taking the number of workers involved in the dispute to 1,15,000. Other plants of GM which have been struck are the ones at Ohio where it builds the Pontiac Sunfire and the Chevrolet Cavalier, and the Mexico factory which produces its full-size sports utility vehicles.

The strikes have now silenced 23 of the company's 29 North American car and truck assembly operations, representing more than 90 per cent of its output. While President Bill Clinton has asked GM and the United Auto Workers to reach a settlement quickly, GM chief Jack Smith is sticking to his tough stance that it needed to have labour agreements that allowed it to remain competitive.

Insurers won't pay for Viagra

Kaiser Permanente, one of the US' leading health maintenance organisations (HMO) has said that it won't cover anti-impotence drug Viagra in its new benefits contracts. It said itwill continue to cover all medical care associated with the evaluation and treatment of sexual dysfunction, except for the cost of pharamceuticals.

This, according to the company, has been done keeping in mind the need to keep the costs of healthcare down. Kaiser's estimates are that national coverage of 10 Viagra pills per month would be at least $100 million a year, as compared to around $59 million spent by it last year for all anti-viral drugs including protease inhibitors for the treatment of AIDS.

Bad loans weigh Japan down

Japan's weighty bad loans, suffocating its banks and undermining the world's second largest economy, lay at the heart of international crisis talks. Japan's top 18 banks admitted they were still struggling with 21.7 trillion yen(164 billion dollars) in bad loans in March this year, despite massive write offs.

Economists say the figure for the nation's overall burden of doubtful loans, which are either bad or may turn bad, reaches as high as 100 trillion yen. Tokyo onlywon crucial US support to prop up its sliding yen by promising tough action to tackle the crisis.

Low-key in the US

American marketing heavyweights Coca-Cola, Gillette and McDonald's are spending millions this year sponsoring the world cup soccer's month-long global championship series. But unless you spot their names on the billboards surrounding the world cup soccer fields, Americans following the matches on ABC or ESPN may not make the connection.

Four years after the U.S. played host to the world cup for the first time, the volume has been turned down in the US on promotional activity surrounding soccer's premiere event. Coke, Gillette, and McDonald's are among a dozen official worldwide sponsors of the world cup, reportedly paying between $ 20 and 40 million each for the designation.

But none of the three bought commercial time on the English-language networks that are carrying all 64 world cup matches live to U.S. viewers. Coke and McDonald's are advertising on the Spanish-languageUnivision network which is also carrying the matches to viewers in the U.S. Gillette is neither advertising nor conducting consumer activities tied to the world cup in its home country, opting for baseball and golf promotions here instead.