IBT Staff Reporter

Philippine President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo mobilized troops on Saturday to clear roads of debris and mud in mountainous northern provinces isolated by landslides and floods that left 184 dead after a week of heavy rains.

North Korea wants to ease a standoff with the United States, Japan and South Korea, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao told East Asian neighbors at a summit focused on Pyongyang's nuclear weapons and regional integration.

China said it adamantly opposed a U.S. inquiry that could lead to new duties of 100 percent or more on seamless steel Chinese-made pipes, accusing Washington of blindly hitting its products with anti-dumping accusations.

With a critical Senate committee vote on healthcare reform looming, President Barack Obama on Saturday urged lawmakers to unite behind the effort but Republicans warned the plan would slap a hefty tax on many Americans.

Suspected Taliban militants wearing army uniforms attacked the Pakistani army's headquarters on Saturday, killing six soldiers and triggering a battle in which four gunmen died, military officials said.

Polish President Lech Kaczynski signed the European Union's reform treaty into law on Saturday, leaving the Czech Republic as the only country still to ratify the document.

The Della Valle family's stake in Italian debt-laden eyewear maker Safilo is a good investment and the company could do great things with a local rival, Diego Della Valle said in a Saturday newspaper interview.

The ultra-rich are taking a more hands-on approach to investing and protecting their fortunes, and are increasingly determined that their children also know the ropes, wealth managers say.

As the world wrestles with how to cut greenhouse gas emissions, new technologies are gearing up to grab climate-warming carbon right out of the air.

PC maker Dell Inc has agreed to promote Salesforce.com Inc software products to its U.S. customers, as it tries to expand revenue from higher-margin services business.

Stanford University is trying to sell $1 billion of its $12.6 billion portfolio of assets including investments in venture capital, its head of investments said on Friday.

U.S. retailers that pushed deep, margin-sapping discounts in 2008 to try to lure holiday shoppers during the recession are going to try to break consumers of the 70 percent-off habit in 2009.

Canadian hedge funds may lose more than 20 percent of their business if the European Union approves a proposed directive restricting foreigners' ability to sell into the EU, a top fund manager said on Thursday.

Brazil stocks racked up yet another high for the year to date on Friday, as Brazilian stocks followed foreign markets upward after profit-taking in the morning. The benchmark Bovespa index rose 0.49 percent to 64,071.01, after hitting a new intraday high for the year as investors stayed optimistic about Brazil's economic recovery.

Alicia Keys will release her fourth studio album, The Element of Freedom, on December 1.

Disappointed investors who threatened to abandon venture capital have carried through, sending the number of new funds tumbling and signaling a smaller industry with fewer venture capitalists.

The U.S. Federal Reserve must continue to prop up the economy for an extended period but can't do so indefinitely for fear of triggering an inflationary surge, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned on Thursday.

Bank of America Corp appointed on Tuesday two new directors to asset manager BlackRock Inc's board, swapping current and former bank employees.

Heidelberg, the world's largest maker of printing presses, expects its full-year loss could triple compared with fiscal 2008/09 as underutilised print shops remain unwilling to invest in new machines.

Dole Food Co Inc, the world's largest producer and marketer of fresh fruits and vegetables, set terms for a planned initial public offering, including a price range and the number of shares it expects to sell, suggesting that the IPO is imminent.

Home accessories retailer Tuesday Morning Corp posted a 4 percent fall in its first quarter sales, but forecast a narrower-than-expected quarterly loss.

Good Hair, a documentary starring comedian Chris Rock that discusses people's obsession to get a good hair, hits theaters Friday.

National Semiconductor Corp Chief Executive Brian Halla plans to retire at the end of November, and Chief Operating Officer and company veteran Donald Macleod will take up his post.

The chief executive of Brazil's TAM Linhas Aereas resigned unexpectedly on Friday after less than two years on the job, prompting the airline to promote its chief financial officer on an interim basis.

A committee of former Enron employees is seeking U.S. bankruptcy court approval to distribute about $24 million in severance pay from a litigation trust to 3,500 former employees of the collapsed energy trader.

Giant initial public offerings this week by Banco Santander (Brasil) SA and Verisk Analytics are likely to be followed by more outsized IPOs, but the mixed performance of the stocks shows selling future deals could be difficult.

The biggest week for initial public offerings in 18 months, fueled by offerings from Banco Santander (Brasil) SA and insurance risk specialist Verisk Analytics Inc that raised a combined $10 billion, provided a much-needed boost to investment bankers.

Frozen food company Birds Eye Foods Inc plans to raise up to $350 million in an initial public offering, according to a regulatory filing.

A management buyout of Malaysia's national carmaker Proton Holdings (PROT.KL) could be possible, the firm's chairman was quoted by the Star newspaper as saying.