July 25 (Reuters) - The following are the top stories on the New York Times business pages. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.
* Amazon.com, which is embroiled in a very public conflict with the publisher Hachette, announced second-quarter losses nearly double what Wall Street predicted. (http://nyti.ms/1nYTEZZ)
* The International Monetary Fund said that the world economy was expanding less than it had previously forecasted, slowed by weaker growth in the United States, Russia and developing economies. (http://nyti.ms/1zaqdwo)
* U.S. President Barack Obama on Thursday called for Congress to strip away tax advantages that have encouraged a rush of mergers and acquisitions that give companies an overseas base while they maintain their presence in the United States. (http://nyti.ms/1pORqPE)
* Under pressure to reduce smog and carbon emissions, China is considering a mandatory cap on coal use, but it would be an adjustable ceiling and would allow coal consumption to grow for years. (http://nyti.ms/1zapgEv)
* Of all the financial implosions in the eurozone, few matched last year's collapse of tiny Cyprus in terms of drama and chaos. Frantic Cypriots queued up at banks to drain their accounts. Russian oligarchs scrambled to repatriate hidden fortunes. European officials, fearing another bout of market contagion, orchestrated an audacious 17 billion euro rescue package - forcing depositors to bear a large part of the cost, unlike other bailouts. Now, the foundation of the bailout, an analysis by bond giant Pimco, is being challenged by economists, lawyers and politicians in Cyprus. (http://nyti.ms/1x9tc5i)
* General Motors, hit by a spate of recalls over defective ignitions and other safety related charges that cost the company $3.8 billion, would be in worse shape financially without the surging sales of its large sport utility vehicles, which many once wrote off as artifacts of prerecession excess. (http://nyti.ms/1kevDn2)
* Morgan Stanley and securities regulators finalized a $275 million settlement on Thursday stemming from the Wall Street bank's role in the sale of securities backed by subprime mortgages. (http://nyti.ms/1rEI11J)
* The International Accounting Standards Board, issued a new accounting rule that will give banks much more leeway to write down the value of loans, something that both regulators and bankers demanded in the wake of the financial crisis. Yet the rule could also make it less attractive for banks to make loans in the first place because every loan will lead to an immediate reported loss. (http://nyti.ms/UwEZ0Z) (Compiled by Rama Venkat Raman in Bangalore)