Business Highlights

The Associated Press

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McDonald's left hungry by rivals, economy in July

NEW YORK (AP) ⿿ The Golden Arches are starting to lose some of their shine.

McDonald's Corp. says a key revenue figure came in flat in July, its worst showing in more than nine years, as consumers pulled back amid a sluggish economy. After years of outperforming rivals with a string of popular new items, the results also suggest competition is intensifying for the world's biggest hamburger chain.

The last time the global sales figure dipped for McDonald's was in April of 2003. The figure had grown every month since then, even through the recession.

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Chevron response to refinery fire under criticism

RICHMOND, Calif. (AP) ⿿ Investigators were looking at how a small, seemingly insignificant leak at one of the country's biggest oil refineries quickly spiraled into an intense fire that sent acrid black smoke into the sky and hundreds of people to hospitals with health complaints.

This latest disruption at Chevron's refinery about 10 miles northwest of San Francisco ⿿ one of the West Coast's biggest refineries ⿿ was expected to affect gasoline prices in the region.

The Richmond refinery produces about 150,000 barrels of gasoline a day ⿿ or 16 percent of the region's daily gasoline consumption of 963,000 barrels, according to Tom Kloza, chief oil analyst at Oil Price Information Service.

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Android extends dominance in smartphones worldwide

NEW YORK (AP) ⿿ Got an iPhone? You're in the minority.

There were four Android phones for every iPhone shipped in the second quarter, research firm IDC said Wednesday. That's up from a ratio of 2.5 to 1 in the same period last year.

The success of Samsung's Android phones helped Google's operating system extend its dominance in the smartphone market.

Samsung Electronics Co. and other phone makers shipped nearly 105 million Android smartphones in the April-June quarter, giving Android 68 percent of the worldwide market, up from 47 percent last year.

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