Nov 13 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories in the Wall Street Journal. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

* New guidelines for reducing cholesterol and heart-attack risks mark the biggest shift in cardiovascular-disease prevention in nearly three decades. The change could more than double the number of Americans who qualify for treatment with the cholesterol-cutting drugs known as statins. ()

* China's Communist Party plans to establish a new state security committee that analysts say will cement President Xi Jinping's hold on the military, domestic security and foreign policy. ()

* AMR Corp and US Airways Group reached an antitrust settlement with the U.S. government to allow their $17 billion merger to proceed with only limited concessions, paving the way for a new global airline colossus. ()

* Microsoft is abandoning major elements of its controversial "stack ranking" employee review and compensation system, the latest blow against a once-popular management technique. ()

* Starbucks was ordered to pay nearly $2.8 billion for backing out of a partnership with Kraft Foods to distribute packaged coffee to grocery stores. ()

* President Barack Obama tapped senior Treasury Department official Timothy Massad to head the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, setting up a tight deadline to avoid a commission hobbled by vacancies. ()

* Boeing's unionized workers were set to vote Wednesday on a contract that could have a far-reaching impact on relations between America's biggest exporter and organized labor. ()

* Francis Bacon's "Three Studies of Lucian Freud" just became the most expensive work at auction when it sold for $142.4 million at Christie's in New York. Christie's in New York made auction history Tuesday when it sold well over half a billion dollars worth of contemporary art in less time than it takes to watch a football game. ()