IBT Staff Reporter

NASA has ordered astronauts aboard space shuttle Discovery to switch to a backup runway in California for their planned landing Friday because thunderstorms blocked its return home to the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez and Spain's King Juan Carlos appeared to have put their dramatic public spat of 2007 well behind them when they met on Friday, even sharing a joke about the monarch's recently grown beard.

The European Union's foreign policy chief Javier Solana said on Friday that he was seeking an urgent meeting with the Iranian chief nuclear negotiator after consulting six major powers over proposals submitted by Iran.

The world's oldest person, a woman who was born in 1894 and gained a measure of fame when she voted for Barack Obama for U.S. president, died on Friday at the age of 115.

A World Trade Organization panel has found that European subsidies for Airbus injured its U.S. rival Boeing, a U.S. senator said on Friday in remarks that clashed with a colleague's description of the ruling.

Department stores will likely face a smaller sales decline in the second half of 2009 than in the first half as lower inventories make discounting less necessary to clear out merchandise, Moody's Investors Service said on Friday.

The U.S. government on Friday posted a smaller-than-expected $111.40 billion budget deficit for August, marking a record-matching 11 straight months of deficits.

Harvard and Yale, America's two richest universities, said on Thursday their endowments lost roughly 30 percent of their value last year, showing how severely the financial crisis battered even the world's best managers.

Michael Jackson was buried with one of his iconic white gloves, sunglasses and dressed with pearl beads and a large gold belt, his sister, La Toya, said in a television interview to air on Friday.

Celebrity photographer Annie Leibovitz reached a deal on Friday with the art finance company behind her $24 million loan, allowing her to buy back control of her photographs, which had been put up as collateral.

In obscure corners of the U.S. stock market -- where flash orders, dark pools and other controversial practices thrive -- regulators are trying to shine a light to guard against unfair dealing.

German carmaker Volkswagen (VOWG.DE) is bolstering its presence in Asia after approving 4 billion euros ($5.84 billion) in new investments for China and mounting another effort to build cars in Malaysia.

The organizers at the U.S. Open announced Friday the pending singles matches will be completed today but not before 4:30pm EST due to the challenging rain.

General Motors Co [GM.UL] has ended temporary pay cuts for salaried workers that were put in place four months ago to preserve cash before the automaker filed for bankruptcy, a spokeswoman said.

Chinese machinery maker Tengzhong's bid to acquire the Hummer brand from General Motors Co should be viewed as a trade in technology and not an overseas investment, a top Chinese planning official said on Thursday.

A decision by General Motors Co to sell a controlling interest in its European unit, Opel, was the first major decision for GM's new board and an important test of the U.S. government's pledge to let the directors and management run the company.

Canadian automotive supplier Magna International promised on Friday to ringfence its Opel operations once it takes control of the former General Motors carmaking unit.

Although many women believe heart disease primarily affects men, the truth is women are just as vulnerable. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), heart disease is the number one killer of all women ages 35 and

BMW (BMWG.DE), the world's largest premium car maker, said on Friday its August car sales in mainland China surged 63.2 percent from a year earlier.

Does it feel like your jeans suddenly shrunk? Are you feeling bloated? Or do you suddenly feel particularly irritated by the less than courteous drivers you

Carmakers, stung by recession and unsure of their future as government support wanes, will put on a brave face at next week's Frankfurt Motor Show, promoting the green technologies they hope will be their salvation.

Google Inc is disappointed with the lack of breakthrough investment ideas in the green technology sector but the company is working to develop its own new mirror technology that could reduce the cost of building solar thermal plants by a quarter or more.

Apple's decision not to include a camera in the new iPod Touch is somewhat surprising. After all, there is already a perfect camera for the job, and it sits inside the iPhone. That Apple included a video camera inside the iPod Nano makes this more inexplicable still - the Apple of today is clearly happy to put cameras into its media players (unlike the first iPhone, whose camera was so poor we thought it was just a petulant capitulation to cellphone norms).

The state parent of Brilliance China Automotive (1114.HK) is near a deal to make special purpose vehicles in China with Daimler AG (DAIGn.DE) and Toyota Motor (7203.T), a company source said on Friday.

When General Motors Co Chief Executive Fritz Henderson saw the automaker through bankruptcy in July, he emerged with a new mantra.

Skin is the body's armor. In addition to its important biological role in protecting the body from the external environment, retaining moisture for the body and regulating body temperature, skin appearance factors into our overall well-being and physical attractiveness.

Workers at Opel, German politicians and customers of Canada's Magna expressed concern on Friday about whether General Motors' decision to sell a majority of Opel to Magna and Russia's Sberbank will turn out to be a favorable deal.

Warren Buffett is often a go-to guy when companies want to raise money.