PRESS DIGEST- New York Times business news - Aug 8

Aug 8 (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.

* Chinese companies have raised $3.5 billion in new listings in the United States so far this year, more than the combined total from 2009 to 2013. Up next is Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (IPO-BABA.N), the Chinese e-commerce giant that is expected to raise as much as $20 billion in one of the biggest IPOs in the history of United States markets, perhaps as soon as September. (http://nyti.ms/1zYU1g3)

* As of earlier this week 909 writers had signed on a letter to Jeff Bezos, chief executive officer of Amazon.com Inc demanding that Amazon stop using writers as hostages in its negotiations. (http://nyti.ms/1ybs2qo)

* Wal-Mart Stores Inc, the United States' largest retailer, is in the throes of its most aggressive push yet to become a one-stop shopping destination for medical care. The company has opened five primary care locations in South Carolina and Texas, and plans to open a sixth clinic in Palestine, Texas, on Friday and another six by the end of the year.(http://nyti.ms/1ovkVnc)

* Inspired by the architecture of the brain, scientists have developed a new kind of computer chip that uses no more power than a hearing aid and may eventually excel at calculations that stump today's supercomputers. The chip, or processor, is named TrueNorth and was developed by researchers at IBM. (http://nyti.ms/1shS5Os)

* The creator of one of the most widely used and influential credit scores, Fair Isaac Corp, said on Thursday that the latest version of its score would no longer weigh medical debts, which account for about half of all unpaid collections on consumers' credit reports as heavily as it did in previous iterations. (http://nyti.ms/1nxOKTT)

* China lost an appeal on Thursday of a World Trade Organization ruling that found it had broken international trade law by restricting exports of raw materials used in hybrid car batteries and other energy-efficiency products. (http://nyti.ms/1kqbxpC)

* The Food and Drug Administration helped clear the way on Thursday for a second experimental drug to be tried by people in Africa stricken with the Ebola virus. The drug, being developed by Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corp, was in the initial phase of human testing, which is on healthy volunteers, when the FDA last month halted the trial because side effects were observed. (http://nyti.ms/1sCXhKw)

* Federal auto regulators imposed a nearly $17.4 million penalty on Hyundai because it did not promptly report to the public a safety defect that affected braking in its cars. (http://nyti.ms/1lFOSB5)

* Santander Consumer USA disclosed on Thursday that it had received a Justice Department subpoena related to its subprime auto lending business, the latest company to be touched by a federal investigation into the booming industry. (http://nyti.ms/1r41Vzg)

* Three of the leading private equity firms, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co LP, the Blackstone Group LP and TPG on Wall Street have agreed to pay a combined $325 million to settle accusations that they colluded with one another to drive down the prices of corporate takeover targets, according to a court filing on Thursday. (http://nyti.ms/1ohYG9W)

* Lululemon Athletica Inc has reached a pact with its founder, Dennis Wilson, potentially averting a costly battle over control of the embattled sportswear maker's board. The agreement ends a months long standoff between the high-end yoga clothing firm and its founder, one in which Wilson publicly voiced his dissatisfaction by voting against the reappointment of two of his fellow directors. (http://nyti.ms/1nxCpix)

* The owner of SourceMedia, the publisher of financial trade publications like American Banker and The Bond Buyer, said that it had sold the media company to Observer Capital, an investment firm. Terms of the transaction weren't disclosed. (http://nyti.ms/1vj56JN) (Compiled by Rishika Sadam in Bangalore; Editing by Biju Dwarakanath)