UNITED KINGDOM

Internet sensation Susan Boyle, whose performance on Britain's Got Talent last month has been watched on YouTube by tens of millions of people and made her a global celebrity, returns to the competition on Sunday.

The world grouping OECD said on Friday the global economy was out of free fall, offering hope of recovery late this year, but investors focused on risks to the U.S. credit rating from rising government debt.

European foreign ministers will press Myanmar at an Asia-Europe meeting next week to end the trial of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, but analysts expect only lukewarm backing from their Asian counterparts.

Contraction in world economic output appears to be slowing and a recovery could begin at the end of this year, Organization for Economic Development and Cooperation chief Angel Gurria said on Friday.

Stocks headed for a higher open on Friday as reassuring comments from Moody's tempered fears about the credit rating outlook for the United States, while higher oil prices lifted energy shares like Exxon Mobil.

EBay has won a UK court battle against French cosmetics group L'Oreal, which had claimed the online marketplace was jointly liable for trademark infringements committed by its users.

World economic grouping OECD said on Monday the global economy had come out of free fall, offering hope of incipient recovery late this year to investors and markets unnerved by rising U.S. government debt.

EBay has won a UK court battle against French cosmetics group L'Oreal which had claimed the online marketplace was jointly liable for trademark infringements committed by its users.

Oil hovered above $61 a barrel on Friday, off six-month highs the previous day, as disappointing jobs and factory data dented hopes that the economy of the United States, the world's top energy user, was set for a quick rebound.

Stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Friday, after the previous session's sell-off, with General Motors in focus after sources said Washington has no plans to push the troubled carmaker into bankruptcy.

The dollar fell to a 2009 low on Friday as fears intensified that the United States could lose its triple-A rating, while renewed caution about the world economy and banks prompted Asian and European stocks to slip.

Stocks slid in a broad sell-off on Thursday as investors, concerned about the U.S. budget deficit, exited dollar-denominated assets across the board.

The dollar fell on Friday to its weakest level in five months against major currencies on fears that the United States would lose its AAA rating, while Asian stocks skidded on fears that any recovery in the global economy will be sluggish.

Bill Gross, manager of the world's biggest bond fund, warned on Thursday the United States will eventually lose its top AAA credit rating, a fear that had already spooked financial markets on Thursday and could keep the dollar, stocks and bonds under heavy selling pressure.

The dollar fell on Friday to its weakest in almost five months against major currencies on investor worries that the United States would lose its AAA rating, though Asian stocks headed for a solid weekly gain.

Oil hovered above $61 a barrel on Friday, down from Thursday's six-month highs, as disappointing jobs and factory data dented hopes that the economy of the United States, the world's top energy user, was set for a quick rebound.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said Thursday that the Obama administration and Congress will be working together to reduce the nation’s deficits once the recovery is underway.

Japan's Nikkei stock average edged down 0.1 percent on Friday, with Canon Inc and other exporters hit by a stronger yen but defensive shares holding their own amid a sense the overall trend remains unchanged.

The co-chief investment officer of Pacific Investment Management Co. said on Thursday that the United States may eventually lose its ‘AAA’ credit rating.

The BBC is making a limited number of full-length episodes of natural history program The Life of Birds available to U.S. Internet users, marking the first time such long-form BBC content will have appeared online.

Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 1.2 percent on Friday, with Canon Inc and other exporters hit by a stronger yen as worries about U.S. debt levels grew after a credit agency warned Britain's rating could be cut.