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It was all a big mistake. Ahmad Al-Halabi was sure this had to be some sort of misunderstanding that he could clear up before his flight in a few hours. [...]

MGM Mirage reports a second-quarter loss of $212.6 million, and a 20% drop in revenue to $1.66 billion. Bank debt was lowered to $5.7 billion from $7 billion. Article discusses MGM Mirage's funding of the City Center casino and hotel complex in Las Vegas.

To pay down its $14-billion debt, MGM Mirage will raise $2.5 billion by offering 81 million new common stock -expected to bring in about $1 billion- and new secured bonds that will raise an additional $1.5 billion. It is estimated that the new stock offering will dilute existing shareholder equity by about 30%.

Debt-ridden casino empire MGM Mirage is negotiating with creditors to avoid defaulting on debt, and running out of cash for daily operations and key expansion projects. Cash flow has slowed to an estimated $1 billion, but the company has maturing bond payments of $1.27 billion later this year, and existing interest payments of $674 million. It is speculated MGM Mirage will have to resort to the sale of assets.

Billionaire Kirk Kerkorian, through his investment firm Tracinda Corp., sold 7.3 million of Ford Motor Co.'s shares on Monday at the average price of $2.43, down from the average price of $7 originally paid. The sale reduces Kerkorian's stake in Ford from 6.43% to 6.09%. Tracinda plans to sell more and possibly all of the remaining 133 million shares. Article discusses Ford's financial standing, and the state of Kerkorian's 54% stake in casino-hotel MGM Mirage.

In an effort to revive its hotel franchise and improve its brand, Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide is planning a $4 billion upgrade of its Sheraton Hotels unit. Article discusses Sheraton's negotiations with hotel owners, brand management strategies, expected upgrades, and expected hotel occupancy rates and room supply.

Byline: KRIS MAHER AND TAMARA AUDI Several large unions are rushing to organize dealers and other casino workers, trying to shore up their dwindling ranks by tapping a growing industry. [...]

Byline: TAMARA AUDI DETROIT -- The 17th floor luxury corner suite of the MGM Grand Detroit, MGM Mirage Inc.'s new casino hotel, features sleek decor in chocolate tones, a 15-inch [...]

United Arab Emirates holding company Dubai World will buy a 9.5% stake in MGM Mirage for approximately $5 bil in a deal that will also give it an equal partnership in the CityCenter project MGM Mirage is constructing on the Las Vegas Strip. MGM Mirage's link with Dubai World will provide access to the holding company's wealthy international clientele base.

Byline: Tamara Audi BIRMINGHAM, Mich. On a gloriously balmy Friday night recently, a cluster of men and women gathered in the parking lot of a closed strip mall in suburban [...]

Byline: TAMARA AUDI AND PETER SANDERS With Blackstone Group's agreement to acquire Hilton Hotels Corp. for $20-billion (U.S.) in cash, acquisitive private equity buyers have finally cracked the Big Three [...]

Hotelier Barry Sterlicht, head of the real estate firm Starwood Capital Group Global LLC, has announced plans to launch Baccarat Hotels and Resorts, which would have ties with the French crystal maker of the Baccarat name. Starwood holds 86% of Baccarat's shares. The first hotel project will open in Wailea, Hawaii in 2010.

Byline: Tamara Audi Inspectors and their union leaders said this week that the failure of a veteran New York border officer to detain Andrew Speaker, a lawyer from Atlanta who [...]

Byline: Kathleen Gray and Tamara Audi Jack Kevorkian will be like most parolees on Friday morning when he walks out of a state prison near Coldwater, Mich. He'll have regular, [...]

Byline: Kristen Jordan Shamus and Tamara Audi DETROIT -- Chances are only one of the recreational vehicles traveling Michigan's highways this summer will carry law students and legal documents instead [...]

Byline: Tamara Audi Extremist voices 'have taken over'; majority in USA think negatively of Islam, poll finds DETROIT -- It was an image of Islam that might have startled many [...]

Byline: Tamara Audi WINDSOR, Ontario _ One answers the door in battered house slippers and a bright yellow T-shirt that reads: 'RETIRED. Earned it. Living it. Loving it.' The other [...]

Byline: Jim Schaefer, Niraj Warikoo and Tamara Audi DEARBORN, Mich. _ Hundreds of Iraqis in Dearborn celebrated the apparent fall of Saddam Hussein's regime Wednesday, spilling into the streets, honking [...]

WASHINGTON - Five men sought by the FBI who may have slipped into the country illegally could be part of a larger group with al-Qaeda connections, a senior law enforcement [...]

DETROIT _ President Bush on Monday pressed his efforts to build international support for action against Iraq, three days before he will deliver a speech to the United Nations in [...]

DETROIT _ A year, a few congressional hearings and hundreds of millions of dollars later, security on Michigan's border with Canada has come a long way since Sept. 11, but [...]

DETROIT _ Hundreds of illegal immigrants in Michigan have failed to show up for deportation hearings in the past year. Many of them had been arrested by border patrol agents [...]

DETROIT _ Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. relaunched its attack on the Ford Explorer Monday, saying that it now has proof that the nation's best-selling sport-utility vehicle has 'significant safety issues.' 'We believe [...]

DETROIT _ Cletus Ernster III was no engineer. He knew nothing about building tires or trucks. He was just one man in Houston who owned an Explorer. But he knew [...]

WASHINGTON _ Bridgestone/Firestone Inc. announced Wednesday a recall of all the 14.4 million tires fitted to light trucks and sport-utility vehicles over the last 10 years. The majority of the [...]