WASHINGTON — Brash Texas billionaire R. Allen Stanford was indicted yesterday on charges his international banking empire was really just a Ponzi scheme built on lies, bluster and bribery.

The Justice Department announced charges against Stanford and six others who allegedly helped the tycoon run a $7 billion swindle.

Among those charged were executives of Stanford Financial Group and a former Antiguan bank regulator who prosecutors say should have caught the fraud but instead took bribes to let the scheme continue.

LINES A LOT SHORTER FOR LATEST IPHONE

NEW YORK — The new iPhone went on sale yesterday, greeted by much smaller lines and less hoopla than previous models.

A few hundred people were in line just before the 7 a.m. opening of Apple Inc.'s flagship store on Manhattan's Fifth Avenue, a fraction of the people who lined up around the block for last year's launch.

That launch turned into a debacle as Apple's servers failed to cope with the load of new customers trying to activate their phones.

HOUSE PANEL SEEKS MORE ON BERNANKE

WASHINGTON — A House panel has subpoenaed documents that lawmakers say could shed new light on Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's role in Bank of America's acquisition of Merrill Lynch.

The subpoena comes ahead of a hearing next week in which Bernanke is scheduled to testify.

Lawmakers have accused Bernanke and President Bush's treasury secretary, Hank Paulson, of pressuring Bank of America Corp. Chief Executive Kenneth Lewis into the deal and urging him to keep quiet about Merrill's financial problems.

900 GM WORKERS GOING BACK TO WORK

DETROIT — General Motors Corp. said yesterday it will recall 900 workers and restore the second shift at a factory near Lansing, Mich., because of increased sales of its Buick Enclave, Saturn Outlook and GMC Acadia large crossover vehicles.

The laid-off workers will come back to the plant in Delta Township starting Aug. 24, with the second shift continuing indefinitely.

The company also said it has canceled plans to shut down the Spring Hill, Tenn., plant for an additional week in August because of demand for the Chevrolet Traverse crossover.