IBT Staff Reporter

Group of Seven financial ministers and central bank governors will likely discuss the economic and financial developments that are behind recent currency moves at their meeting this weekend, Bank of Japan Governor Masaaki Shirakawa said on Friday.

Google began the public testing of Google wave this week, with 100,000 people invited into the testing phase, each of which can invite up to five people to join in on the testing.

While it doesn't have the diplomatic clout of the city's favorite son Barack Obama, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra has scored a huge success in Europe, getting audiences and critics on their feet in five countries.

Britain's Tate Modern gallery said on Thursday it had closed a room at its new blockbuster exhibition that contains a naked image of actress Brooke Shields aged 10, after police launched an investigation.

Apple and Eminem's music publisher, Eight Mile Style LLC, reached a settlement agreement on Thursday, putting an end to a lawsuit alleging that Apple was never authorized to digitally sell 93 of Eminem's songs on iTunes.

Google Inc Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said former Genentech CEO Arthur Levinson should stay on the boards of both Google and Apple Inc, despite regulatory scrutiny.

Consumer bankruptcies soared 41 percent in September from a year before and climbed from August, as high unemployment and the housing market crash took their toll, the American Bankruptcy Institute said on Friday.

Consumer bankruptcies soared 41 percent in September from a year before and climbed from August, as high unemployment and the housing market crash took their toll, the American Bankruptcy Institute said on Friday.

Stocks fell for the fourth straight day on Friday as weak jobs data gave more evidence the economic recovery would be less robust than expected.

In-store flu vaccinations helped Walgreen Co , the largest U.S. drugstore chain, post on Friday a better-than-expected 5.3 percent jump in September sales at its stores open at least a year.

Michael Jackson's brother Jermaine, who was a member of The Jackson 5, will appear as a judge on a new BBC talent show Move Like Michael Jackson, the public broadcaster said on Thursday.

North Carolina regulators approved Progress Energy Inc's plan to spend about $900 million to build a 950-megawatt natural gas-fueled power plant in Wayne County to replace a 406 MW coal-fired plant, the company said in a release late Thursday.

The Southern Union Co, which once owned the New England Gas Company, was sentenced on Friday to pay a $6 million criminal fine and $12 million to community initiatives for illegally storing mercury at a Rhode Island site, the U.S. Justice Department said.

Investors worldwide poured $25.9 billion into clean energy in the last three months, down 9 percent from $28.6 billion in the second quarter, analysts at research group New Energy Finance said on Friday.

The head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog will head to Iran this weekend to pin down an Iranian pledge, made at talks with big powers on Thursday, to open a newly revealed uranium enrichment site to inspections.

A Fragile Economy; Tax Money and CIT; Complacency Warning

West Corp, an operator of call centers and conference calls, filed plans on Friday to raise as much as $500 million in an initial public offering.

Beer heavyweight SABMiller Plc is seen as a front-runner to buy Mexico's No. 2 brewery, owned by FEMSA, possibly drawing rival AB InBev into a showdown in the country's lucrative market.

Julius Baer has emerged as the frontrunner to acquire Dutch ING's Swiss private banking assets, two people familiar with the matter said, and a deal could be announced as early as next week.

As the largest initial public offering on a U.S. exchange in 18 months, the closely watched share sale of Banco Santander (Brasil) will likely attract plenty of demand next week even as some investors balk at the price of the stock.

Time Warner Inc Chief Executive Jeff Bewkes said on Friday the media conglomerate is not interested in buying General Electric Co's NBC Universal.

Apple and Eminem's music publisher, Eight Mile Style LLC, reached a settlement agreement on Thursday, putting an end to a lawsuit alleging that Apple was never authorized to digitally sell 93 of Eminem's songs on iTunes.

Electronic readers could be the hottest gift this holiday season as a new crop of portable media devices begins to join iPods and other music players as must-have tech accessories.

A court-appointed trustee sued the brother, sons and a niece of imprisoned fraudster Bernard Madoff on Friday for $198 million, accusing them of milking the family-run business while they were executives of the firm.

Oil fell more than 1 percent on Friday, settling below $70 a barrel after U.S. employment figures raised doubts about the strength of the economic recovery.

Bank of America Corp's six-member CEO search committee includes three former directors of FleetBoston Financial Corp, a sign the bank's Boston connection may take a stronger role in setting future strategy.

U.S. House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank and other lawmakers on Friday urged regulators to delay the December 1 implementation of financial rules to enforce a ban on Internet gambling.

If CIT Group exchanges its debt under an offer aimed at averting a bankruptcy filing, the U.S. government could lose nearly 80 percent of its $2.33 billion investment in the troubled commercial lender.

U.S. stocks were little changed on Friday and on track for their second straight week of losses as disappointment over weak jobs data waned and as brokers' positive comments lifted technology and financial companies.