Also

* President Bush approved a bid by French telecommunications equipment maker Alcatel to acquire Murray Hill, N.J.-based Lucent Technologies Inc. in a $11.8-billion deal. The companies have agreed to create a separate unit run by Americans to handle sensitive U.S. contracts.

* Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.’s largest union broke off contract talks and said no new negotiations were scheduled, prolonging a 6-week-old strike.

* UPS Inc. said it would raise rates next year by 4.9% on average for ground shipments and 6.9% for all air express and U.S.-origin international shipments.

* Federal Communications Commission Chairman Kevin J. Martin was approved by the U.S. Senate for a second term as the top regulator for the telecommunications and media industries.

* Glendale-based restaurant chain IHOP Corp. said it would pay $11 million in taxes and interest to the IRS to settle a dispute over its federal income taxes from 2000 to 2003.