Alliant Techsystems Inc. , a military contractor and aerospace company, said Wednesday it will supply rockets to the U.S. Air Force under a contract worth as much as $250 million.

President Bush said Thursday he will lift key trade sanctions against North Korea and remove it from the U.S. terrorism blacklist, a remarkable turnaround in policy toward the communist regime he once branded as part of an "axis of evil."

Europe unveiled the A400M military aircraft on Thursday, giving the public a first glimpse of a powerful turboprop plane being built to supply seven NATO countries with urgently needed strategic airlift capacity.

A consortium led by European aerospace group EADS is favorite to win a $1 billion contract to build a border fence shielding Saudi Arabia from Iraq, executives at the Saudi business partner said.

UAL, parent of United Airlines, said Monday it plans to lay off 950 pilots as it prepares to cut domestic capacity to offset soaring fuel prices.

U.S. auditors upheld Boeing's protest of the award of a $35 billion refueling-aircraft deal to a U.S.-European team that includes rival planebuilder Airbus, a U.S. lawmaker said Wednesday.

Honeywell says it will sell a unit that makes aerospace fasteners and provides logistical services to B/E Aerospace for $1.05 billion, including at least $800 million in cash and the rest in B/E common stock.

Former EADS co-chief executive Noel Forgeard has been placed under formal investigation on suspicion of insider trading while at Europe's largest aerospace group, his lawyer said on Friday.

Former EADS chief Noel Forgeard was detained in police custody for questioning on Wednesday as part of a probe into possible insider trading at the European aerospace giant, French police sources said.

There could be a rival offer for U.S. defense firm DRS Technologies, more probably from a European company, the chief executive of bidder Finmeccanica told La Repubblica newspaper in an interview.

Banks dominated European earnings Wednesday, as France's BNP Paribas and the Netherlands' ING Group reported falls in first-quarter profit due to the ongoing market turmoil.

European shares ended higher on Wednesday as tame U.S. inflation data eased worries that the U.S. Federal Reserve might have to raise interest rates to keep inflation at bay, while mining stocks rose on fresh merger talk.

Planemaker Airbus announced another delay in deliveries of its A380 superjumbo on Tuesday, deepening the woes of Europe's biggest industrial project and risking further penalties with unhappy airlines.

European planemaker Airbus has warned customers they may face more delays on delivery of the world's largest passenger plane, the A380, which is already two years behind schedule.

A host of news out of France on Tuesday, with Alstom down more than 2 percent on reports that officials are investigating it for bribery.