IBT Staff Reporter

NEW YORK, March 4 - A lawsuit filed against the mayor and city council of Austin will test whether public officials in Texas can use their private e-mail accounts to hide communication about government affairs from public scrutiny.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc is being drawn into the criminal trial of one-time hedge fund billionaire Raj Rajaratnam, as prosecutors plan to show an insider-trading conspiracy involving a former director at the Wall Street bank.

The head of marketing for Research In Motion will leave the company in six months, raising questions about BlackBerry branding as the smartphone maker gets set to launch its long-awaited PlayBook tablet.

Airbus parent EADS conceded defeat in an epic, decade-long contest to sell aerial tankers to the Pentagon and confirmed it would not protest the award of a $30 billion contract to Boeing Co .

Goldman Sachs Group Inc is being drawn into the criminal trial of one-time hedge fund billionaire Raj Rajaratnam, as prosecutors plan to show an insider-trading conspiracy involving a former director at the Wall Street bank.

Corrects paragraph 4 to show RIM stock closed at C$64.53 in Toronto, not C$66.60

AT&T Inc Chief Financial Officer Rick Lindner will retire June 1, and will be replaced by Controller John Stephens, the company said on Friday.

Brent oil prices pushed above $116 a barrel and U.S. oil jumped more than $3 to its highest since September 2008 on Friday, as fighting in Libya worsened and protests in the Middle East intensified.

Ireland's new prime minister in waiting pleaded with fellow European conservative leaders on Friday for easier terms on Dublin's financial bailout loans, but was told there would be no free lunches.

A government probe of BP Plc's Atlantis production platform in the Gulf of Mexico found no evidence of significant safety breaches, the Interior Department said on Friday.

Entertainment Weekly is reporting that Spike TV has teamed up with Taiwanese viral sensation NMA to produce Charlie Sheen's Winningest Moments. The animated feature will be a half-hour special chronicling the most outrageous moments on Sheen's recent controversies.

A recent auction of Twitter shares on the secondary market suggests investors value the company at $7.7 billion, more than twice the valuation the Internet microblogging service garnered in a December funding round.

Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho has reportedly escaped from being stabbed by a man armed with a dagger at a Spanish airport.

U.S. employers hired workers at the fastest pace in nine months in February and the jobless rate slipped to a nearly two-year low of 8.9 percent, showing the economy is finally kicking into a higher gear.

Ireland's new prime minister in waiting pleaded with fellow European conservative leaders on Friday for easier terms on Dublin's financial bailout loans, but was told there would be no free lunches.

Convictions remain very strong with pressure building, as fourteen Wisconsin Democratic lawmakers said Friday they are not threatened by possible arrest and the chance that 1,500 people could lose their jobs if they don't return to work.

Bank of America Corp Chief Executive Brian Moynihan has a tough assignment for the company's investor day next week: convincing shareholders he has a blueprint for the bank's future.

Late night comedian Conan O'Brien says Apple might be getting a little too cocky for their own good.

Yahoo Music is reporting that legendary musician Phil Collins officially called it quits with the music business.

Lady Gaga recently performed a concert in Toronto and invited little monster, Maria, to join her on stage.

A day after it announced a new service which would bring Groupon-like daily deals together, Microsoft’s Bing announced a partnership with Kayak to feature flight deals.

A sweeping insider trading case that shook the hedge fund world is finally set for trial, with onetime billionaire Raj Rajaratnam fighting to stay out of prison in a courtroom drama over corporate secrets, tapped telephones and friends-turned-government witnesses.

Sony Corp said it will appeal the seizure of Playstation 3 game consoles by customs officers in the Netherlands following a court injunction initiated by LG Electronics over a patent dispute.

Rising oil prices and tumbling bank shares dragged Wall Street lower on Friday, with stocks surrendering the previous session's hefty gains.

Wall Street erased most of its weekly gains on Friday as fears of more geopolitical turmoil and higher oil prices threaten to stifle rallies in coming weeks.

More and more people continue to discover the art of buying back thanks to the emergence of the iPad 2, and wanting to upgrade from the original.

U.S. stocks closed down and erased most of gains for the week on Friday as fears of more geopolitical turmoil and higher oil prices threaten to stifle rallies in coming weeks.

Brent oil prices pushed back above $116 a barrel and U.S. oil hit its highest since September 2008 on Friday, as fighting in Libya intensified and threatened the country's oil sector.

The jobs outlook is growing dimmer and dimmer for the public sector.