IBT Staff Reporter

Diversified U.S. manufacturer Honeywell International Inc reported a 38 percent drop in profit and cut its full-year earnings forecast, citing the slumping economy.

U.S. corporate earnings are shaping up to be better than expected in the first quarter, compared with the previous quarter as bank results stabilize. But profitability remains well below pre-recession levels.

Wall Street was set for a modestly higher open on Friday as investors found bright spots in a slew of earnings results, including a smaller-than-expected loss from struggling Ford Motor Co.

Democrats in Congress worked on Thursday to win over U.S. lawmakers skeptical of climate change legislation, while climate leader California took another major step with low-carbon rules on fuels that could be copied nationwide.

North Korea will put two U.S. journalists arrested last month on its border with China on trial to face criminal charges, its media said on Friday, ratcheting up tensions already raised by a defiant rocket launch.

A debate over how to investigate Bush-era officials who authorized harsh interrogation tactics of terrorism suspects split Washington on Thursday, and Democrats squabbled over how to proceed.

Diversified U.S. manufacturer 3M Co reported a 48 percent drop in quarterly profit and cut its full-year earnings forecast, citing falling demand as its customers reduce inventories.

New orders for U.S. durable goods slipped 0.8 percent in March, far less than Wall Street expected, while their gain in February was revised downward, Commerce Department data showed on Friday.

President Dmitry Medvedev sacked Russia's most powerful spymaster on Friday in a move that underscores strained ties with some of the military top brass over a Kremlin-backed reform of the armed forces.

Indian envoys flew into Sri Lanka on Friday to urge a truce in the closing chapter of a 25-year war in which U.N. data showed nearly 6,500 civilians have been killed in the last three months.

The World Health Organization (WHO) voiced concern on Friday at a confirmed outbreak of swine flu in the United States and what it called more than 800 human influenza-like cases in Mexico, including about 60 deaths.

The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) said on Thursday the call to develop offshore wind turbines in the Great Lakes by the New York Power Authority may help open up offshore wind development in the United States.

South Africa's ruling ANC celebrated a commanding lead in an election that will install Jacob Zuma as president and put him under immediate pressure to deal with a faltering economy and improve the lives of the poor.

Thailand's prime minister ended a 12-day state of emergency in Bangkok on Friday and called for constitutional reforms in a bid to heal the deep political rifts behind recent violent protests.

Mexico is canceling classes for millions of children in the heart of the country on Friday after influenza killed around 20 people in recent weeks.

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has fallen further behind the opposition Conservatives to trail by 18 percentage points after his government announced a record budget deficit, an opinion poll showed on Friday.

Following are security developments in Iraq at 1600 on Thursday.

Schlumberger , the world's largest oilfield services company, reported a decline in first-quarter earnings on Friday as the global slump in energy demand forced its customers to reduce activity and seek price reductions.

In a second day of major bloodshed, two suicide bombers wearing explosive vests blew themselves up at the gates of a Shi'ite Muslim shrine in Baghdad on Friday, killing 60 people, Iraqi police said.

A Pakistani Taliban commander ordered his men to withdraw from Buner district on Friday, amid growing alarm in the United States over the Taliban creeping nearer to the capital of the nuclear-armed Muslim state.

Xerox Corp flipped to a profit in the first quarter, but the leading provider of digital printers and document management services forecast a second-quarter profit weaker than analysts' views and cut its full year earnings outlook nearly in half.

Diversified U.S. manufacturer 3M Co reported a 48 percent drop in quarterly profit and cut its full-year earnings forecast, citing falling demand and its customers' efforts to cut inventory.

Ford Motor Co posted a smaller-than-expected first-quarter loss and said it was on track to at least break even in 2011 and did not expect to seek U.S. government loans, sending its shares up more than 22 percent.

The United States hopes to take the reins of international efforts to battle global warming next week with a meeting of major economies aimed at facilitating a U.N. pact to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

U.S. and Russian negotiators held a productive initial round of talks in Rome aimed at securing a new treaty to curb nuclear weapons, they said on Friday, as part of a broader effort to improve relations.

A powerful German labor leader poured scorn on the idea of a bid from Fiat for struggling German car maker Opel, saying on Friday he favored an investor such as Canadian car-part maker Magna.

Stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Friday after Ford Motor Co reported better-than-expected results as investors awaited data on manufacturing and housing.

Ford Motor Co posted a smaller-than-expected first-quarter loss on Friday amid the auto sector downturn and said it was on track to at least break even in 2011 and did not expect to seek U.S. government loans.

Stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Friday after Ford Motor Co reported better-than-expected results as investors awaited data on manufacturing and housing.