IBT Staff Reporter

World stocks rose toward this week's 7-1/2 month high on Friday as resource stocks rallied after oil prices surged past $69 a barrel and optimism grew about an improving U.S. labor market ahead of key jobs data.

Dunkin' Donuts will mark National Donut Day by offering customers a free donut of their choice with the purchase of any beverage on Friday.

Microsoft Corp's chief software architect said on Thursday the profit margins on providing online services -- broadly known as cloud computing -- would likely yield a lower profit margin than the company's existing software business.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Friday, ahead of key monthly jobs data.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Friday, ahead of key monthly jobs data.

Asian shares, oil and higher-yielding currencies rose on Friday as positive signals from the latest U.S. weekly job data sparked tentative optimism ahead of the crucial monthly employment report.

Asian shares, oil and higher-yielding currencies rose on Friday as hopes for a global economic recovery drove up appetite for riskier assets, but traders were cautious ahead of U.S. monthly job data.

Sales of disk storage systems -- which contain much of the world's digital information -- fell 18 percent in the first three months of this year, hit by deep cuts in technology spending, according to industry research firm IDC.

Dismissing strong objections from JPMorgan Chase and American Express Co executives, U.S. regulators insisted the banks raise equity this week before repaying bail-out funds, the Financial Times reported.

Whatever the outcome of Iran's June 12 presidential election, the Obama administration hopes Tehran will then end months of stalling and respond to Washington's overtures for better relations.

Brazilian search teams on Thursday scoured choppy Atlantic waters for remains of a crashed Air France jet after the first debris retrieved by helicopter turned out to be trash.

President Barack Obama sought to change Muslim perceptions of the United States on Thursday in a speech that urged Arabs and Israelis to declare in public the realities he said they accept in private.

A tiny fraction of those who use the fast-growing social network phenomenon Twitter generate nearly all the content, a Harvard study shows.

The United States has told South Korea it is preparing financial measures to punish North Korea for illicit weapons trade and counterfeit activities in the wake of its nuclear test last week, a newspaper report said on Friday.

Three Chinese dissidents who spent much of the past 20 years behind bars for marring Mao Zedong's portrait at Tiananmen Square said the students who led that movement have failed to continue the struggle.

Nintendo Co Ltd tried and rejected the motion-sensing technology that Sony Corp and Microsoft Corp are counting on to catch up in the video games wars, the company's president told the Financial Times.

Nintendo Co Ltd tried and rejected the motion-sensing technology that Sony Corp and Microsoft Corp are counting on to catch up in the video games wars, the company's president told the Financial Times.

Japan's Canon Inc, the world's largest digital camera maker, revived on Friday plans to build a $180 million factory as demand holds firm for its high-end single-lens reflex cameras, lifting its shares 1.6 percent.

TheWB.com is teaming with former Beverly Hills, 90210 star Jason Priestley for The Lake, a new online series.

Angelo Mozilo, who built the largest U.S. mortgage lender, was charged with securities fraud and insider trading on Thursday, making him the most prominent defendant in investigations into the U.S. subprime mortgage crisis and housing bust.

Sony Corp's Sony Music Entertainment will join the online music video service being developed by Google Inc's YouTube and Universal Music Group.

Kevin T. Kabat, the chief executive of Fifth Third Bancorp said Tuesday the firm is looking forward to consulting with regulators about repaying the government’s financial bailout funds after the firm said it had completed a common stock offering which raised $1 billion.

Global miners Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton said on Friday they will combine their major Australian iron ore operations, scuppering a $19.5 billion bid by China's Chinalco to secure a stake in Rio and long-term access to its key ore supplies.

General Motors Corp will give more than $2.5 billion of the $3.6 billion needed for Platinum Equity to gain control of bankrupt car parts supplier Delphi Corp , the Wall Street Journal said, citing a source.

Global miner Rio Tinto scrapped its proposed $19.5 billion tie-up with Chinese firm Chinalco on Friday and instead launched a heavily discounted $15.2 billion right issue.

Tesla Motors will open seven new sales and service centers by the end of June in the U.S. and Europe, the all-electric car manufacturer said today.

Energy Secretary Steven Chu addressed the community of Harvard University on Thursday for a commencement speech humorously calling himself a nerd.

The Arizona Cardinals have signed twice Pro Bowl safety Adrian Wilson on a fresh five-year contract, the team said on Thursday.

Harvard University is creating an endowed professorship in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transsexual studies, the first of its kind in the United States and reflecting a rise in sex-related academia nationwide.