FRIEDMAN RESIGNS AS CEO OF HARPERCOLLINS

NEW YORK (AP) — HarperCollins President Brian Murray is taking over the duties of chief executive after Jane Friedman became the second publishing CEO to step down in recent weeks amid increasing pressure on the industry. The publishing company owned by Rupert Mudoch's News Corp. said Friedman's resignation Wednesday was effective immediately. "We are enormously grateful for her contributions over the past 10 years and understand her desire to seek new challenges at this point in her career," Murdoch said in a statement issued late Wednesday.