IBT Staff Reporter

Telecom Argentina SA, one of Argentina's top telephone companies, said net profit rose 21 percent in the first quarter as Internet and mobile phone sales increased.

Asian countries agreed on Friday to boost drug stockpiles, share essential supplies and tighten surveillance against an H1N1 flu virus that posed an imminent health threat to the region.

Leggett & Platt Inc, a maker of bed springs and store shelving, revised its first-quarter earnings to reflect increased bad debt expense due to the shutdown of one of its customers.

McDonald's Corp reported a 6.9 percent rise in April sales at restaurants open at least 13 months, as strength in the United States helped offset the impact of the stronger dollar.

At least 12 people were killed and scores wounded in clashes between Somalia's militant rebels and pro-government Islamist militias in the latest fighting in the anarchic Horn of Africa state, witnesses and Islamists said.

Pakistani forces have killed 143 militants over the past 24 hours in fighting in the Islamist bastion of Swat northwest of the capital, the military said on Friday.

Mexico's peso firmed on Friday and stocks jumped as the U.S. government's stress tests eased worries about major banks and data showed employers in the United States cut fewer jobs than expected in April.

Pope Benedict said at the start of a politically sensitive tour of Jordan, Israel and the Palestinian territories on Friday he hoped the Roman Catholic Church could contribute to peace in the Middle East.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates is expected to appoint a three-star general to boost the U.S. military leadership in Afghanistan, the Wall Street Journal reported Friday.

North Korea faces consequences if it goes ahead with a second nuclear test, but little can be done to stop it, the U.S. special envoy to the communist state said on Friday.

Google Inc Chief Executive Eric Schmidt said he expects more regulatory scrutiny from around the world and the company is paying more attention to the way it approaches certain business issues as a result of the attention.

Stock index futures were poised for a higher open on Friday after the government's stress tests results on big banks lifted optimism on financial stocks and data showed employers cut a smaller-than-expected amount of jobs in April.

A recent surge in Asian shares lost steam ahead of U.S. monthly jobs data later on Friday that may signal whether the global economy has indeed hit bottom, after stress tests on U.S. banks offered no real surprises.

Oil stood at just below $58 a barrel on Friday, off session highs, lifted partly by more positive data on the health of some major economies that could ultimately translate into increased demand for oil.

Investment bank Morgan Stanley on Friday said it priced an offering of 146 million common shares at $24 each, raising a more-than-expected $3.5 billion in new equity but at a discount of nearly 12 percent to its Thursday closing price.

U.S. employers cut a smaller-than-expected 539,000 jobs in April, the smallest amount since October, according to government data on Friday that hinted at some improvement in the labor market and the recession-hit economy.

U.S. employers cut a smaller-than-expected 539,000 jobs in April, the smallest amount since October, according to government data on Friday that hinted at some improvement in the labor market and the recession-hit economy.

Oil rose above $58 a barrel on Friday, near a six-month high, lifted by hopes of an economic recovery that could boost falling world oil demand.

Betting against the latest upsurge in U.S. stocks is likely to be a losing proposition even for the balance of May, a month historically associated with the onset of a volatile period for equities.

Turkey's former army chief has defended a 2007 website intervention on presidential elections, branded an 'e-coup' by critics, as a justified defense of secularism against Islamist incursions.

Toyota Motor Corp , the world's biggest automaker, forecast a much bigger-than-expected $8.6 billion annual loss and said it would sell about 1 million fewer vehicles this year, leaving it desperately trying to cut costs in the grip of a severe market downturn.

U.S. shares are set to rise on Friday, after stress tests for U.S. banks sparked optimism about the sector's future, and ahead of April's non-farm payroll data.

Results of a government test of how the biggest U.S. banks would fare in an even more punishing economic environment are unlikely to spur a major pick-up in lending, though they may remove some of the uncertainty in the banking system.

The world's first rules for generating tradeable carbon credits from protecting forests were a good start but Indonesia needed to clear up doubts over the government's share of the revenues, analysts and industry said Friday.

Italy's biggest utility Enel and German renewable energy company SoWiTec have agreed to jointly develop wind power projects in Chile of up to 850 megawatts, Enel said on Friday.

Oil rose above $57 a barrel on Friday, near a six-month high, lifted by hopes of an economic recovery that could boost falling world oil demand.

President Barack Obama's $3.55 trillion budget, released on Thursday, retains his plan to cut climate-warming carbon dioxide emissions by auctioning off 100 percent of emission permits to industries.

The world's biggest automaker, forecast a much bigger-than-expected $8.6 billion annual loss and said it would sell about 1 million fewer vehicles this year, leaving it desperately trying to cut costs in the grip of a severe market downturn.

First-quarter results from two more European banks showed bad debts soaring in the face of tough economies, as U.S. rivals prepared to raise $75 billion to provide a cushion for the deepest recession in decades.