IBT Staff Reporter

Australia's cruel summer of cyclones and floods could generate a new, devastating political storm for Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who now must buck hostile public opinion to find a way to pay for the clean-up.

Thai and Cambodian soldiers exchanged fire in a two-hour border clash on Friday that killed two Cambodian soldiers and a Thai villager, the latest in an ancient feud over land surrounding a 900-year-old Hindu temple.

Algerian opposition groups said on Friday they would probably go ahead with a planned protest march next week despite promises from the president to heed some of their demands and allow more political freedoms.

Dow and S&P 500 are down slightly today, as investors struggled to interperet the January jobs report from the U.S. Dept. of Labor

Zimbabwe has licensed five independent power producers whose projects are aimed at helping a struggling power sector by doubling current electricity output to 4,450 megawatts, a government minister said on Friday.

China has offered Zimbabwe $3 billion for vast platinum reserves, a local private newspaper reported on Friday but said the deal was likely to be rejected by the government over its terms.

Construction of a railway line connecting Botswana's Mmamabula coal field with the Namibian port of Walvis Bay, pegged at up to $9 billion, is expected to start in 18 months, a government official said on Friday.

Proposed changes to revenue sharing within the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) are unacceptable because they place an unfair burden on its poorer members, a senior Namibian official said on Friday.

Irish oil and gas explorer Aminex Plc said on Friday it would increase its stake in a natural gas-bearing exploration block in Tanzania through an agreement with Australia's Key Petroleum.

Now that all the hype and the hoopla of Chinese President Hu Jintao’s visit to the United States are over, the same basic commercial question remains unanswered: How can American companies create more jobs for Americans by selling more American goods and services in China?

Tighter budgets at the Securities and Exchange Commission could mean killing vital technology upgrades needed to catch swindlers, the agency's chief said on Friday in a blunt appeal for more funding.

South African coal producers on Friday dismissed utility Eskom's criticism of coal quality and the power company's claims that suppliers were favouring exports over deliveries to its electricity generating plants.

South Africa's rand weakened to a near six-month low against the dollar on Friday, falling through key support and dragging local bonds down with it before recouping some losses as demand for longer dated paper picked up.

A war of words between Uganda's main presidential candidates escalated on Friday, sparking fears of Egypt-style street violence should the opposition say the poll was rigged.

Algerian opposition groups said on Friday they would probably go ahead with a planned protest march next week despite promises from the president to heed some of their demands and allow more political freedoms.

Egypt has suffered huge economic losses during political protests that broke out 10 days ago but the government is committed to meeting its financial obligations, finance minister Samir Radwan said on Friday.

Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians marched peacefully in Cairo on Friday to demand an immediate end to President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule, but there was no sign of his generals, or his U.S. allies, squeezing him out just yet.

Verizon Wireless ended online sales of Apple Inc's iPhone on Thursday evening after what it said was the most successful first day sales in the history of the company.

Corning Inc said it would increase sales by more than 50 percent by 2014, banking on the popularity of devices such as tablets and smartphones to drive demand for its glass.

Stocks were little changed on Friday after January's U.S. unemployment report showed the jobless rate fell to a 21-month low, but the number of newly created jobs barely grew.

Images of internal Verizon product page lists release date and price.

Hedge fund manager Chris Shumway told investors on Friday that he is returning all of their money in a few weeks, becoming the latest prominent stock picker to essentially shut down his firm.

Studies published in the medical journal The Lancet, show that obesity worldwide almost doubled in the decades between 1980 and 2008.

Tyson Foods Inc's quarterly earnings surged 86 percent as it sold beef and pork at much higher prices, sending its shares up 6.3 percent in premarket trading.

From Wall Street to the City of London, doughnuts are on the menu this bonus season.

Securities regulators are eyeing a spring target to unveil market structure reform proposals in the wake of the May 6 flash crash, Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Mary Schapiro said on Friday.

Astronaut Mark Kelly, husband of Congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords, has decided to keep flying for NASA only weeks after his wife was nearly killed by a would-be assassin.

In his first press conference since his dramatic deadline day move to Chelsea, former Liverpool striker Fernando Torres explained his £50m move to London, thanked the Liverpool fans and also said he wouldn't celebrate a goal against Liverpool this Sunday.

Forestry and paper company Domtar Corp posted a better quarterly profit, helped by higher pulp shipments, which offset seasonal weakness.