Seattle  - Some 27,000 machinists at airplane giant Boeing could go on strike Friday after rejecting the company's proposed wage increases amid fears that their jobs could be shipped overseas.

The machinists, members of the International Machinists and Aerospace Workers, approved the strike action in a vote taken late Wednesday. But they delayed implementing the strike after the company reopened negotiations with union leaders, who gave Boeing until Friday evening to provide an "exceptional contract offer" under the guidance of a federal mediator.

New York/Seattle  - The US aircraft giant Boeing Thursday said it had received its first cancellation - from Azerbaijan Airlines - in the wake of delays in production for its long-awaited long-distance 787 Dreamliner.

The airlines cancelled one of the three Dreamliners it had on order and is substituting it with a Boeing 767, the company said from its Seattle base.

The other two Dreamliner orders from Azerbaijan airlines will remain on the books.

Seattle - Microsoft intends to invest heavily in developing its search business after being freed from the 47.5-billion-dollar bill for buying Yahoo, company chief executive Steve Ballmer said Thursday.

Ballmer's comments at Microsoft's annual meeting with financial analysts were his first detailed assessment of the software giant's plans since the deal died in May, when Yahoo rejected the offer as too low.

A Yahoo acquisition would have helped Microsoft's bid to overtake Google in search, but any current merger plans are dead, Ballmer said Thursday.

Seattle, Washington - Coffee giant Starbucks is to

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