IBT Staff Reporter

About 10 global and Taiwan financial firms have submitted bids to buy troubled AIG's Taiwanese insurance unit, newspapers said on Saturday, in a deal that could fetch up to over $2 billion.

Oracle Corp's plan to buy computer maker Sun Microsystems will be notified to European Union antitrust authorities this month, a source familiar with the deal said on Friday.

Global semiconductor sales rose 5.4 percent in May sequentially, reflecting a slow pick up in demand for products such as mobile phones and personal computers that use chips, according to the Semiconductor Industry Association (SIA).

A sedative used in operating rooms which makes people unconscious, was found at the house of Michael Jackson, a law enforcement official said Friday, according to the Associated Press.

Microsoft Bing Travel is unavailable for services due to an accidental fire at a Seattle building where Bing Travel data reside.

New York 4th of July celebrations will feature fireworks in the Hudson River for the first time since the 9/11 attacks.

Teck Resources said on Friday it will sell a 17.2 percent equity stake to state-owned China Investment Corp in a deal that will help the Canadian miner pay down its debt while expanding China's portfolio of commodity investments.

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, former Vice Presidential running mate of John McCain during the presidential elections in 2008, said Friday she is resigning on July 26 as governor and will not run for re-election on the position.

Researchers are using Bluetooth technology to observe the meanderings of tens of thousands of festival-goers at a top European rock festival, hoping their findings will launch a new generation of tracking devices.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin announced Saturday she is resigning from office by the end of the month, after deciding not to seek re-election in 2010.

Several Mexican clients of Stanford Financial Group have sued insurance broker Willis Group Holdings Ltd , contending it was a willing participant in a $7 billion fraud at the Texas-based investment company.

The Michael Jackson Public Memorial Service has been set to take place on Tuesday, July 7 at 10:00 a.m. at Staples Center in downtown Los Angeles, according to the Staples Center website.

Alaska Governor Sarah Palin, Republican John McCain's vice presidential running mate in 2008, said on Friday she will resign this month and will not run for re-election as governor.

Free tickets for Michael Jackson's public memorial service at the Staples Center in Los Angeles will be distributed randomly to people who begin registering on Friday July 3 from 1:00 p.m. EST to Saturday July 4, 9:000 p.m. EST.

China's ambitious plan to increase wind power capacity could attract up to $150 billion in investment, but Beijing will have to get serious about revamping regulations and building much needed infrastructure.

The dollar's status as the top global reserve currency is unlikely to be mentioned explicitly in the final communique at next week's Group of Eight summit, a European G8 source involved in preparations for the meeting said on Friday.

Oil dropped a dollar to below $66 a barrel on Friday after unemployment data hardened views economic weakness would sap energy demand and that last month's rally was overdone.

Canada's Teck Resources said on Friday it will sell a 17.2 percent equity stake to state-owned China Investment Corp in a deal that will help Teck pay down debt while expanding China's portfolio of commodity investments.

Austrian fund manager Sonja Kohn did not receive any kickbacks from Bernard Madoff to steer Bank Medici customer funds to the swindler's investment business, a Medici lawyer said on Friday.

Major countries should support the dollar as the key international currency, although emerging nations may discuss a new global reserve currency on the sidelines of the G8 summit next week, a Japanese official said on Friday.

The time and date of the Michael Jackson's memorial service has been finally decided.

Hundreds of British troops have seized key canal crossings in a Taliban stronghold in southern Afghanistan, military officials said on Friday, part of a new U.S.-led operation to wrest the initiative from insurgents.

For the U.S. military, it's the million dollar question — or rather the $687 billion question, according to a recent estimate of the Iraq war's total cost. Is Iraq now stable enough for them to take a permanent back seat?

Oil fell toward $66 a barrel on Friday, adding to a drop of nearly 4 percent the previous day, as unemployment data hardened views economic weakness would sap energy demand further and that last month's rally was overdone.

Russia hopes next week's visit by U.S. President Barack Obama will help restore confidence between the two biggest nuclear powers, a Kremlin aide said on Friday, after strains over Georgia and a U.S. missile shield plan.

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U.S. bank regulators closed seven institutions on Thursday, including six banks in Illinois controlled by one family and a small bank in Dallas, bringing the total number of U.S. bank failures to 52 so far this year.

Top oil and gas firm PetroChina raised daily output at its largest Sulige gasfield, in northern China's Ordos Basin, to 25.6 million cubic metres, up 67 percent from last July, its parent CNPC said.

Volkswagen chief executive Martin Winterkorn said Europe's largest auto maker sold 6 percent more cars and transporters in June than in the same month a year earlier.