PRESS DIGEST - New York Times business news - July 29

July 29 (Reuters) - The following were the top stories in the New York Times business pages on Tuesday. Reuters has not verified these stories and does not vouch for their accuracy.

* Merrill Lynch said it expected to take a $5.7 billion write-down because of losses on its mortgage assets and planned to raise at least $8.5 billion.

* The White House predicted that President George W. Bush would leave a record $482 billion deficit to his successor, a turnabout in the nation's fiscal condition from 2001.

* The financial establishment came together Monday in search of a new way for banks to come up with cash for home mortgages. Regulators, bankers and traders, led by Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, all pledged to do their best to get a "covered bond market" going in the United States.

* As seven years of global trade talks approach another climax, China is emerging as a central player - and coming under heavy criticism from the United States and others for its tactics.

* As carriers from American Airlines to Thai Airway International respond to high oil prices by shedding jobs, culling routes and grounding aircraft, Middle Eastern carriers are expanding as fast as they can in hopes of redefining their region as the aviation crossroads of the globe.

* Opel and Vauxhall, General Motors Corp's (GM.N) biggest-selling brands in Europe, are getting new logos that aim to "send a message that something is happening with these brands."

* JetBlue Airways Corp's (JBLU.O) chief executive agreed on Monday to halve his salary in a show of solidarity with employees as the low-cost carrier struggles with soaring fuel prices and a slowing American economy.

* General Motors Corp (GM.N) will eliminate shifts at two truck plants and lay off 1,760 workers to further reduce production of slow-selling pickups and sport utility vehicles.

* Verizon Communications Inc (VZ.N) is having a harder time pushing its television service, which competes with the big cable companies, but the company said the slowing economy had not hurt its cellphone business.