IBT Staff Reporter

The U.S. economy is not likely to slip back into recession but letting tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans expire is necessary to show commitment to cutting budget deficits, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Sunday.

Japan's Mizuho Financial Group Inc , Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group Inc are likely to have each achieved net profits of over 100 billion yen ($1.14 billion) for the April-June period, the Nikkei business daily said on Sunday.

Buckingham Palace said on Sunday it has launched an account with online photo management site Flickr.

The United States, which targeted Swiss bank giant UBS in a damaging tax fraud probe last year, is not planning to carry out new tax investigations against Swiss banks, the U.S. ambassador to Switzerland said.

Just seven European banks failed a health check and were ordered to raise their capital by 3.5 billion euros ($4.5 billion), confirming fears the continent's long-awaited stress test was too soft.

Russia plans its biggest sell-off of state assets since the early 1990s as it seeks to raise over $29 billion to plug budget gaps over the next three years, finance ministry sources told Reuters on Saturday.

Iran and Turkey has singed a one billion euro pact for building natural gas pipeline for transferring Iran gas to Turkey. As per the contract, Turkey to contribute 77% of total required fund for completing the 660- kilometer pipeline.

If anybody thought the recent slide in gold prices is an indication of the yellow metal's losing power to sustain above $1,200 per ounce level, think again. According to analysts, gold prices are set to rise and rise in the coming months and years. They said gold prices are set to mark an eleventh year of gains in 2011 as investors seek refuge from an uncertain global economic outlook.

So few banks failed Europe's long-awaited stress tests on Friday that investors will likely focus instead on the dozen or so banks that just scraped through when markets reopen next week.

Prices of crude oil futures slumped below $79 a barrel on Friday despite a stock market rally and the rise of Tropical Storm Bonnie in the Gulf of Mexico. The downward turn on Friday followed a sharp gain Thursday amid positive corporate earnings reports that some saw as a signal of economic recovery and the brewing tropical storm.

China's banking regulator has run stress tests in the country's trust firms to see if they can withstand a downturn in the property sector, the Economic Observer reported on Saturday, citing unidentified industry sources.

U.S. bank failures reached 103 so far in 2010 on Friday as regulators seized seven small banks, a faster pace of closures than last year when the century mark was not reached until October.

Wall Street enters next week on the cusp of a breakout in U.S. stocks, but it will need another spate of convincing earnings reports to feed the rally that sprouted at the end of this week.

The Obama administration on Friday proposed trying to enhance access for people with disabilities to websites for hotels, retail stores and other public sites as well as improve access to movie theaters.

Walt Disney Co is in talks to acquire social gaming start-up Playdom, according to a pair of media reports.

Wall Street enters next week on the cusp of a breakout in U.S. stocks, but it will need another spate of convincing earnings reports to feed the rally that sprouted at the end of this week.

Back in 1982, first-time director Steven Lisberger brought mainstream audiences into the world of videogames with the sci-fi thriller TRON, using early computer-generated imagery that paved the way for today's 3D movie blockbusters.

Just seven European banks failed a health check and were ordered to raise their capital by 3.5 billion euros ($4.5 billion), much less than expected, confirming fears the continent's long-awaited stress test was too soft.

Seventeen financial firms made ill-advised payments to executives totaling $1.6 billion while taxpayers were bailing them out, U.S. pay czar Kenneth Feinberg said on Friday.

Morgan Stanley , Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase were among banks that sold Goldman Sachs protection against the risk of a collapse of giant insurer American International Group , a source familiar with the matter said on Friday.

A Pontiac, Michigan, woman was charged with murder on Friday after chasing down and ramming another car in a fight over a man that started on Facebook, police said.

The Obama administration warned on Friday the U.S. economy had encountered strong headwinds and the country's fiscal challenge remained grim, but it lowered an estimate for the budget deficit this year.

General Electric delivered a shot of confidence to U.S. investors when it raised its dividend on Friday, pushing the S&P 500 through the key 1,100 level.

Honeywell International Inc and Ingersoll-Rand Plc raised their 2010 profit forecasts and General Electric Co boosted its dividend in moves that underlined U.S. manufacturers' growing confidence in the economic recovery.

You'd better hurry if you want to see the hats, shoes, dresses and immaculate gloves that were an essential element of the style which made Grace Kelly a fashion beacon for millions of women around the world.

General Electric delivered a shot of confidence to U.S. investors when it raised its dividend on Friday, pushing the S&P 500 through the key 1,100 level.

Customers will not be able to get their hands on Apple Inc's white iPhone 4 until later this year, the company said on Friday, conceding that making the model has proven surprisingly difficult.

Seven European banks are not strong enough to withstand another recession and would face a capital shortfall of 3.5 billion euros ($4.5 billion), far less than expected, stoking fears the keenly-awaited stress tests were too soft.

General Electric Co moved to raise its dividend by 20 percent on Friday, in a sign that the largest U.S. conglomerate has put the worst of the financial crisis behind it.