IBT Staff Reporter

Japan's Nikkei stock average edged down 0.1 percent on Friday, with Canon Inc and other exporters hit by a stronger yen but defensive shares holding their own amid a sense the overall trend remains unchanged.

The co-chief investment officer of Pacific Investment Management Co. said on Thursday that the United States may eventually lose its ‘AAA’ credit rating.

The BBC is making a limited number of full-length episodes of natural history program The Life of Birds available to U.S. Internet users, marking the first time such long-form BBC content will have appeared online.

A Federal District Court judge in California weighed arguments in a contentious DVD copyright case between Hollywood movie companies and RealNetworks Inc on Thursday, but did not indicate when she might rule.

Japan's Nikkei stock average fell 1.2 percent on Friday, with Canon Inc and other exporters hit by a stronger yen as worries about U.S. debt levels grew after a credit agency warned Britain's rating could be cut.

The U.S. Treasury Department said on Thursday it has put another $7.5 billion into auto lender GMAC to enable it to support both Chrysler LLC , and General Motors Corp Corp car buyers and partly meet a shortage of capital.

A Mystery computer virus infected FBI and the U.S. Marshals computers forcing them to shut down part of their networks as a precautionary measure.

American International Group Inc said on Thursday that Chief Executive Edward Liddy plans to step down, signaling the end to a short and tumultuous tenure running the government-rescued insurer.

China's Huawei Technologies took the No. 3 position in the ailing mobile network gear market in the first quarter, doubling its market share from a year ago and bypassing Alcatel-Lucent .

Diplomats and journalists were barred again from the court inside Insein prison in Myanmar, a day after the military government opened the trial for the first time since it began on Monday.

The Treasury Department is set to give GMAC LLC at least $7 billion in aid allowing it to expand lending to customers.

Data on Thursday underscored that the U.S. economic recovery, when it arrives, will be a long slog, with a key factory index showing only marginally less weakness and unemployment tipped to hit double-digit levels.

In spite of fewer openings for new nurses at hospitals -- a result of the economic recession -- there is still a nursing shortage, according to Deloras Jones, RN, MS, executive director of the California Institute for Nursing & Health Care (CINHC).

Shares of OpenTable Inc closed their first trading session up 59 percent on Thursday following the restaurant reservation company's initial public offering, in the best first day performance for a U.S. company in over 18 months.

Forecasts of dramatic jumps in U.S. medical costs are pushing lawmakers to reach a deal on a major healthcare revamp that seeks to extend coverage to all Americans, a leading U.S. senator said on Thursday.

Troubled Florida thrift BankUnited was on Thursday seized by federal regulators handing control over to a private equity group led by John Kanas and WL Ross & Co.

Results from a new national study among 688 physicians revealed that over the past few weeks, doctors continue to be less concerned about the impact that the H1N1 swine flu will have on themselves and their families.

Manmohan Singh will be sworn in for a second term as Indian prime minister on Friday after a key southern ally said it would leave the ruling alliance due to a row over ministerial positions.

Stocks slid in a broad sell-off on Thursday as investors, concerned about the U.S. budget deficit, exited dollar-denominated assets across the board.

Cost cuts helped Gap Inc beat quarterly profit expectations on Thursday and investors cheered a long-overdue sales improvement in the apparel retailer's Old Navy chain.

Euro zone economies showed signs on Thursday that the worst recession in six decades is easing but data from the United States on jobless claims and business conditions signalled a bumpy recovery.

Ireland may return to economic growth in 2010, a year earlier than previously expected, Prime Minister Brian Cowen told an election rally on Thursday.

American International Group Inc said on Thursday that Edward Liddy, its chief executive, plans to step down, signaling the end to a short and tumultuous tenure running the bailed-out insurer.

Gap Inc., the apparel company that owns Gap, Old Navy and Banana Republic posted a profit of $215 million, down 14 percent from a year earlier.

Mothers and newborns are no more likely to survive today than two decades ago, with prospects worst in countries battling AIDS, conflict and poverty, the World Health Statistics 2009 report showed on Thursday.

OpenTable Inc shares jumped 72 percent in their trading debut Thursday following the restaurant reservation company's initial public offering, putting it on pace for the biggest first day performance for a U.S. company in more than a year.

The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the funding for a major transmission project that would deliver hydropower from Quebec to the New England region.

Jessica Hahn has been causing quite a buzz online after her name was mentioned in CNN personality Larry King’s new memoir.

General Motors Corp cleared a key obstacle in its restructuring on Thursday as the United Auto Workers agreed to cut labor costs and accept new terms for a $20 billion union retiree healthcare obligation.