IBT Staff Reporter

Finance leaders clashed on Friday over how to stop banks plunging the world into another crisis.

Stocks climbed on Friday as investors focused on the bright side of a mixed payrolls report that showed smaller-than-expected job cuts in August but also an unemployment rate that hit a 26-year high.

Recession Worries Persist; Escalating Pressure at GM; Pivotal Trade Decision

Chris Waddell wants to climb Kilimanjaro in a wheelchair; George Del Barrio wants to make a film in Cambodia; Jeff Edwards wants to write a book about a science fiction writer: they want you to fund their dreams.

Comments that the World Trade Organization on Friday backed a U.S. complaint against European Union aid to plane maker Airbus are wrong and misleading, EU sources with knowledge of the WTO ruling said.

A photo taken of Marine Lance Cpl. Joshua M. Bernard of New Portland, Maine in Afghanistan and published by the Associated Press has caused much controversy.

Biogen Idec said on Friday it had offered to acquire Facet Biotech Corp, a partner in developing multiple sclerosis and cancer drugs, in a deal valued at about $355 million.

The U.S. Federal Housing Administration said on Friday it would not need a congressional subsidy even if mortgage-related losses push its reserves below a level demanded by Congress.

Shares of memory chip developer Rambus Inc rose 8 percent on Friday on speculation that rival Samsung Electronics would buy the company for $25 to $27.50 per share.

The World Trade Organization ruled on Friday that billions of dollars in European loans to help Airbus develop civilian aircraft are an illegal subsidy under world trade rules, a person familiar with case said.

Stocks gained ground on Friday after a mixed payrolls report failed to rattle investors as U.S. job losses in August were the smallest in a year, although the unemployment rate hit a 26-year high.

Investment bank Barclays Capital has shifted its trading of U.S. Northeast carbon allowances to its London desk after a trader in New York left the company, the bank's head of environmental markets said.

People who have agonized over their fat thighs might be able to relax a bit -- Danish doctors said on Thursday they found patients with the thinnest thighs died sooner than the more endowed.

The World Trade Organisation on Friday issued a 1,000-plus page ruling on whether subsidies the EU gave to Airbus were illegal, although the findings will not officially be made public for months.

Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi's grip on television in Italy is at the heart of

Two generations of Murdochs have caused a wave of excitement in the battered newspaper industry in recent weeks with a series of comments and actions suggesting that charging readers for news on the Web is the way forward.

China's far-west Xinjiang region has been struck by a new bout of unrest in the regional capital, Urumqi, reigniting ethnic tensions two months after deadly riots.

H&R Block Inc posted a wider-than-expected quarterly loss on Friday, hurt by higher expenses in tax services segment, and said it expects tax returns filed to fall about 1 to 2 percent in the coming tax season.

Oil prices rose slightly on Friday as stronger equities boosted hopes for economic recovery, outweighing U.S. jobs data showed the unemployment rate at a 26-year high.

Mohamed El-Erian, the chief executive of top bond fund PIMCO, said in an interview on Friday the risk of stalled economic growth in 2010 is increasing, given a still-weak labor market.

Actor Nicolas Cage plays a deranged, drug-addicted detective in

U.S. job losses were the smallest in a year last month, but the unemployment rate unexpectedly jumped to a 26-year high, according to data on Friday that showed the labor market limping toward health.

Macau's casinos gained a record $1.5bn in August, their highest-ever monthly revenue and up 18% on the same month last year, local media reported on Thursday.

Mohamed El-Erian, the chief executive of top bond fund PIMCO, on Friday said the risk of a double-dip in economic growth in 2010 is increasing given a still-weak labor market.

CIT Group Inc said it has extended the contract of Chief Executive Jeffrey Peek for one year, even though his decisions to expand into risky businesses helped to push the lender to the brink of bankruptcy.

Americans are expected to travel less on Labor Day 2009 weekend opting for so-called staycations, according to the tourism industry, Bloomberg reports today.

The United States confirmed on Friday it has received a confidential World Trade Organization ruling in its multibillion-dollar complaint against European government support for Airbus .

Stocks rose moderately on Friday after a mixed payrolls report that showed U.S. employers cut fewer-than-expected jobs in August even as the unemployment rate hit a 26-year high.

Madonna smashed her own record for top-grossing tour by a solo artist, but the