IBT Staff Reporter

The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank warned on Friday that the global economic recovery might falter as complacent policymakers lost their will to cooperate.

The number of rigs drilling for natural gas in the United States increased 2 this week to 712, according to a report on Friday by oil services firm Baker Hughes in Houston.

President Barack Obama is unlikely to sign climate legislation ahead of a December U.N. global warming meeting in Copenhagen, the White House's top climate and energy coordinator Carol Browner said on Friday.

First Solar Inc's shares surged nearly 5 percent on Friday, buoyed by news the U.S. solar power company will join the flagship S&P 500 stock index and after it landed a buyer for a 20-megawatt solar power project in Canada.

Bank of America Corp has appointed a six-member group of directors to oversee the search for Kenneth Lewis' replacement.

The International Olympic Committee announced Rio de Janeiro will be the first South American city to host the Olympic Games in 2016.

More investors are likely to move capital into real estate over the next couple of years to scoop up bargains even as the distress that has long plagued residential real estate broadens and takes hold in the commercial sector, a top restructuring expert said.

Gasps and tears greeted the announcement on Friday that Chicago had lost its bid to host the 2016 Summer Games, as the city went from favorite to also-ran in the multibillion-dollar Olympics sweepstakes.

U.S. stocks declined on Friday, though brokers' positive comments on companies in the tech and bank sectors partially offset weaker-than-expected jobs data.

Oil fell more than 2 percent to $69 a barrel on Friday after U.S. employment figures raised doubts about the strength of the economic recovery.

U.S. employers cut a deeper-than-expected 263,000 jobs in September, fueling fears the weak labor market could impede the economy's recovery from its worst recession in 70 years.

The head of the main U.S. securities industry regulator said on Friday the board of Bank of America Corp should make public its intentions as it searches for a new chief executive.

U.S. auto maker General Motors received approval from European Union antitrust regulators on Friday to acquire parts of bankrupt U.S. car parts company Delphi. The European Commission, competition watchdog of the 27-country European Union, said in a statement that the proposed buy of Delphi's mobile electronics and transportation systems would not give rise to competition concerns.

The 2007 leveraged buyout of Lyondell Chemical Co by Basell should not have taken place because it was prohibited under Basell's bondholder agreements, the indentured trustee for Basell's senior bondholders has claimed in a new lawsuit.

American Airlines and fellow Oneworld alliance partners British Airways and Iberia face fresh European Union antitrust hurdles as they look to extend their pact to include coordinated schedules and prices.

Alexander Afanasyev, a veteran worker at Russia's largest car plant, fears he could one day be stabbed by a friend.

The world is in danger of spending its carbon budget by about 2025 and risks temperatures rising beyond 2 degrees Celsius unless nations adopt a flexible carbon accounting system, conservation group WWF says in a report.

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said on Friday that the Fed risks igniting a burst of inflation if it does not withdraw its extensive support for the economy at the right moment.

Standing in a garage on a West Philadelphia backstreet, Stefon Gonzalez is sure his team can win a $10 million prize to build the best super-efficient, mass-production hybrid car.

The United Nations put off taking action Friday on a U.N. report that accuses both Israel and Palestinian militants of war crimes in Gaza, after U.S. pressure aimed at getting the peace process back on track.

U.S. stocks traded slightly lower on Friday, rebounding from early losses, as gains in technology and financial shares helped offset some of the losses brought on by weak monthly employment figures.

U.S. TV talk-show host David Letterman said on Thursday he was the victim of a $2 million extortion plot by a man who threatened to write a screenplay about Letterman having affairs with employees.

David Letterman shocked viewers Thursday night on his CBS Corporation television show with his candid story of getting being blackmailed by network employee,Robert J. Halderman, for $2 million to expose Letterman's affairs with employees.

The head of the main U.S. securities industry regulator said on Friday the board of Bank of America Corp should make public its intentions as it searches for a new chief executive.

The United States hailed the resignation of Kenya's anti-corruption chief and said on Friday it could help drive badly needed reforms after post-election violence last year that rocked east Africa's biggest economy.

Merck KGaA is sticking to its initial target to make more than 1 billion euros ($1.45 billion) in sales from its Erbitux cancer drug as early as 2011, its chief executive told a German weekly.

Dutch maker of photocopier and printing systems Oce NV posted a third-quarter loss and sharply declining revenues due to weak European markets, but said it saw early signs of bottoming out in some U.S. markets.

In a blow to President Barack Obama, the U.S. House of Representatives voted on Thursday to prohibit his administration from transferring terrorism suspects from the Guantanamo Bay military prison to face prosecution in the United States

The United States wants to give Japan's new government time to review a contentious agreement on rejigging U.S. troops in the country, but thinks an existing deal is the best solution, U.S. ambassador John Roos said on Friday.