Also. . .

* A Mexico City judge dismissed fraud charges against three IBM Corp. executives, saying prosecutors had not provided enough evidence to prove that they had illegally conspired to win a $27.7-million contract for a Mexico City police database. Nineteen police employees still face charges relating to the contract, allegedly for conspiring to give IBM the project without putting it out for bid. Last week, IBM agreed to pay monetary and in-kind reparations of more than $37 million for the database, which officials said has never worked.

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* Toy Biz Inc. received court approval of an amended plan to merge with Marvel Entertainment Group Inc., the world’s largest comic book publisher. Marvel’s shareholders and unsecured creditors also agreed to back the amended plan, which adds a payment of up to $3.5 million to financier Carl Icahn and his allies to cover reorganization-related litigation costs.

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* Daiwa Securities Co. will fire at least 30% of its employees outside Japan, or about 360 people, to stem mounting losses, said Yoshinari Hara, president of the second-largest broker in Japan. The Tokyo-based broker also will cut its Asian work force by 40%.