IBT Staff Reporter

U.S. air strikes earlier this month killed 140 villagers, an Afghan government investigation concluded on Saturday, putting Kabul starkly at odds with the U.S. military's account.

Britain's ruling Labour party on Saturday suspended a second MP in an expenses scandal that has scarred parliament's reputation and sparked public rage, after he claimed thousands of pounds for a mortgage he had already paid off.

Pakistani soldiers are closing in on the main town in the Taliban bastion of Swat, the army said on Saturday, in an offensive that has driven more than a million people from their homes.

Switzerland's largest bank, UBS , is losing key staff in important areas to competitors, chairman Kaspar Villiger was reported as saying on Saturday.

Barack Obama will visit Africa for the first time since being sworn in as the first black U.S. president when he travels to Ghana in July, a trip many Africans hope will herald powerful help for their poor continent.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Saturday named Utah Governor Jon Huntsman Jr. to be the next U.S. ambassador to China, a pivotal post in relations between the United States and a major emerging economic power.

Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's ruling coalition won an overwhelming election victory on Saturday, boosting hopes of a stable government as the emerging Asian power faces economic downturn and tensions with Pakistan.

Saudi Basic Industries Corp 2010.SE (SABIC) is coping better than other petrochemical companies with the global recession because Saudi Arabia will not be as badly hit, its chairman said on Saturday.

Turkish airport operator TAV said its first quarter loss increased by 12 percent to 61.9 million lira ($39 million), due partly to the cost of financing the construction of an airport in Tunisia.

The worst of the economic crisis is over and, while the situation remains fragile, there are growing signs of a recovery on the horizon, Italian economy minister Giulio Tremonti said in a newspaper interview on Saturday.

Poland's troubled listed insulin maker Bioton BOTN.WA swung to a 20 million zloty ($6 million) net loss in the first quarter due to a drop in revenues and losses at subsidiaries.

Taiwan's Fubon Financial, the island's fifth-largest financial holding firm, would be keen to take additional equity stakes in Chinese commercial banks, Chairman Daniel Tsai said.

Dubai property developer Deyaar DEYR.DU is looking to expand into five countries to tap into cheap valuations stemming from the global financial crisis, the company's chief executive said late on Friday.

Bill Gross, the co-chief investment officer of Pacific Investment Management Co. will take over management of four funds run by departing high-yield manager mark Hudoff, Bloomberg reported.

GMAC LLC, traded its loss linked name for a new name, Ally Bank in an effort to gain a new customer base.

The Hong Kong government predicted Friday its gross domestic product (GDP) would contract by 6.5% this year as the government announced that its GDP fell 7.8% in the first quarter of 2009.

Venture-capital investments have been falling in a depressed economy but this is not necessarily stifling technology start-ups, as it becomes easier to get firms off the ground without outside investment, Microsoft says.

Five months after Bernard Madoff's massive fraud was revealed, little of his victims' money has been found and it appears increasingly likely that the worldwide hunt for their missing billions will drag on for years.

A money manager owned by Canada's Manulife Financial Corp is seeking to fire one of the largest subprime mortgage companies in the United States, claiming that Carrington Mortgage Services is unfairly tarnishing some bonds.

In response to the federal government's stress test, SunTrust Banks Inc. released its full capital plan on Friday and will cut quarterly divided from 10 to 1 cent a share, in coincidence with its regional competitor BB&T who made a 68% dividend cut four days ago.

Bank managers need to be evaluated to see if they are doing a good job and consideration needs to be given about possibly better qualified individuals to run the institutions, FDIC chief Sheila Bair told Bloomberg.

U.S. stocks stumbled on Friday as energy shares dropped along with oil prices on worries about weak demand, overshadowing fresh reassuring economic data.

U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees says Pakistan needs massive international help for hundreds of thousands of people displaced by fighting in the Swat valley to avert a tragedy.

WASHINGTON - President Barack Obama on Friday renewed U.S. sanctions against Myanmar's military government, saying its actions and policies continued to pose a serious threat to U.S. interests.

Two U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement lawyers are under investigation by federal criminal authorities for allegedly using insider information to trade stocks, a report by the SEC's internal watchdog said.

General Motors Corp said it would drop about 1,600 U.S. dealers as it struggles to slash billions of dollars in operating costs and debt ahead of an anticipated bankruptcy filing by the end of the month.

New York State announced Friday it will go forward with projects that will eventually generate up to 100 megawatts of solar photovoltaic energy.

Bahrain’s largest oil producer and exporter in the Middle East still looking for positive economic growth to bear fruit despite the global slowdown in commodities as it runs out of oil, said Shaikh Salman bin Hamad Al-Khalifa, CEO of Economic Development Board interviewed by CNBC during the World economic forum today.

House speaker Nancy Pelosi backed U.S. energy policy being proposed by the House Energy and Commerce committee, saying it will help grow the economy and create jobs.