IBT Staff Reporter

Google Inc made substantial changes to its search engine in a direct attack on companies that churn out low-quality stories and videos.

South African petrol pump prices in the main inland commercial region will increase by 43 cents a litre, or 4.8 percent, from March 2, the government said on Friday.

Long-term South African bonds rose on Friday after a four-day sell-off fuelled by the government's disappointing budget deficit forecast for next fiscal year.

Mozambique will solicit bids for oil and gas exploration from international firms within the next two years, a senior government official said on Friday.

The FCC is investigating the possibility that service blackouts were to blame for unanswered 911 calls.

BP said on Friday it would shut its Plutonio oilfield in Angola for maintenance work in April and expected the stream to return to production in May.

The final legal obstacle was removed to Starbucks Corp ending its coffee distribution agreement on March 1 with Kraft Foods Inc by a U.S. appeals court ruling on Friday.

Verizon Wireless sold more iPhones online than in stores, its top executive told Reuters, disputing a concern that the sparse crowds that greeted the launch of the Apple Inc device signaled low sales.

Scientists at the Smithsonian Institute are using candid cameras to catch wildlife in their natural habitats.

Chrysler Group LLC, the automaker managed by Fiat SpA , plans to file reports with the U.S. regulators divulging updates of its business and financial condition, the company said on Friday.

Ford Motor Co is reshaping its relationship with suppliers, allowing more coordination from design to production, as it focuses on global platforms and shared parts, a top Ford executive said this week.

Holllywood's biggest night is a couple of days away and the anticipation for who will walk home with an Oscar is increasing. A number of amazing actors, actresses and movies are nominated for the big categories of the night. Here are the predictions of who will win an Oscar for the main categories of the Academy Awards.

NEW YORK, Feb 25 - A U.S. securities regulation enacted last year to combat credit ratings shopping and encourage open and transparent flow of issuers' collateral information to all rating agencies is having the opposite effect, according to securitization specialists.

The uphill climb for consumer goods makers to improve sales and profits is getting more slippery, as higher oil prices add to costs and also cut into budgets people have for shopping.

Higher oil prices should have a limited impact on the world economy if prices stay at current levels, the International Monetary Fund said on Friday.

LOS ANGELES - Eliminated American Idol hopeful Chris Medina's inspirational story prompted super-producer Rodney Jerkins to put pen to paper. The result: a just recorded single, What Are Words, and an accompanying video premiering on Friday at 2 p.m. EST on aol.com.

Canada will outpace the United States and Mexico in first-quarter automobile production growth, which will add roughly 1.5 percentage points to the country's economic growth, according to a report released by Bank of Nova Scotia.

Daily-deals website Groupon chalked up an eye-popping twenty-fold surge in 2010 revenue and hopes to get to billions of dollars this year, the Wall Street Journal cited an internal memo from its CEO as saying.

Oil price gains to date do not pose a risk to the U.S. economy but they could prove nettlesome if they jump a lot higher or create an inflationary psychology, Richmond Federal Reserve Bank President Jeffrey Lacker said on Friday.

U.S. stocks rose on Friday, bouncing back from a three-day sell-off as oil prices stabilized, but unease over the Libyan rebellion could be enough to keep buying in check.

Charlie Sheen has been in the news a lot recently. Just yesterday the troubled actor managed to shut down production of his hit show for the remainder of the season. Sheen attacked the show's creator in two interviews. The actor went on a profane rambling tirade against Alcoholics Anonymous, party girls, his ex-wife, founding father Thomas Jefferson and the creator of Two and a Half Men. There is no word on whether production will resume next season. The actor also faces the possibili...

Another antenna issue could be brewing as Consumer Reports flunked the Verizon iPhone 4.

U.S. stocks rose on Friday, bouncing back from a three-day sell-off as oil prices stabilized, but unease over the Libyan rebellion could be enough to keep buying in check.

An IHS iSuppli tear-down has found. Motorola's Xoom tablet has none of the components that would enable it to work with 4G networks, though space was left for them and the company will offer free upgrades.

For most of the last three millennia, the world's commercial centers have used one or another variant of a gold standard. It should be one of the best understood of human institutions, but it's not. It's one of the worst understood, by both its advocates and detractors. Though it has been spurned by governments many times, this has never been due to a fault of gold to serve its duty, but because governments had other plans for their currencies beyond maintaining their stability. And so,...

Why did the price of gold hit record highs in 2008? Take a look at the headlines - government bailouts of failed banks, mortgage and credit crises, rising inflation, slowing growth and global insecurity. In order to protect themselves from treacherous financial markets and depreciated paper currencies investors worldwide are turning to gold.

U.S. stocks rose on Friday, bouncing back from a three-day sell-off as oil prices stabilized, but unease over the Libyan rebellion could be enough to keep buying in check.

Top exporter Saudi Arabia has raised oil output above 9 million barrels per day to make up for a near halt in Libyan exports, an industry source said, helping prices fall further from the highest since 2008.

Anne Hathaway, along with James Franco, will host the 83rd Annual Academy Awards on Sunday, Feb. 27. This is the first time the 28-year-old actress will host the awards show. Anne Hathaway has been nominated once before for an Academy Award for Best Actress in her role as Kym in “Rachel Getting Married.” Anne Hathaway kick started her career playing the role of Mia Thermopolis in the 2001 film “The Princess Diaries.” She later reprised that role for “The Princess Diaries 2: Royal Engagement.