Also

* Unocal Corp. and its partners plan to spend about $1 billion in two years, more than initially planned, to boost natural gas output in Thailand as demand for the fuel surges for use in power generators.

* Microsoft Corp. will face off against the European Commission Sept. 30 in a European Union court in Luxembourg, seeking a suspension of sanctions against it for several years, the court announced.

* The planned merger between two of Japan’s mega-banks, UFJ Holdings Inc. and Mitsubishi Tokyo Financial Group Inc., ran into a major obstacle when a Tokyo court demanded that the merger talks be scrapped. UFJ said it would fight the order.