IBT Staff Reporter

Residents in South Carolina can receive a rose for their sweeties from the police by turning in a gun.

U.S. lawmakers have passed a $787 billion stimulus package aimed at boosting the economy which President Barack Obama had wanted the Congress to approve and has said he will sign into law.

Chocolatiers have been concerned about the impact the recession would have on their business but a sweet tooth, even in hard times, has kept them going.

The average American is spending 40 percent less a day in stores, restaurants, gas stations, or online in the two weeks ahead of Valentines Day, compared to a year ago as consumers continue to feel the effects of weaker economy.

The International Monetary Fund and the world's big development banks warned on Friday that emerging and developing countries that lack deep pockets to protect themselves against the crushing impact of a global financial crisis may need help soon.

Barack Obama won a big victory when Congress agreed to his economic stimulus plan, but the new U.S. president has also suffered a series of setbacks to his No-Drama Obama image in his first weeks in office.

With the hot toy of 2009 likely being anything that carries a modest price tag, the two biggest U.S. toy companies, Mattel Inc and Hasbro Inc, are reassessing their lineups.

On Friday, ThyssenKrupp AG, Germany's largest steelmaker, reported a hefty loss of 63 percent in the fiscal first quarter.

On Friday Brazil's stocks rose as a rally in oil prices boosted commodity stocks, while the national currency also firmed as hopes for an imminent U.S. stimulus package raised investors' appetite for risk.

On Friday evening a British Airways passenger jet with 72 people on board crash-landed at London City Airport. All passengers were evacuated to safety, the Associated Press reported.

On Friday Part-nationalized Lloyds Banking Group said its HBOS unit made heavy losses last year due to a bigger-than-expected rise in unpaid loans, wiping a third off its value and raising fears more state help will be needed.

President Barack Obama shared kind words of Beverly Eckert, one of the victims aboard the Continental Express flight 3407 which crashed Thursday night, who was also the widow of Sean Rooney who died in the 9/11 attacks.

Beverly Eckert, one of the victims aboard the Continental Express flight 3407 which crashed Thursday night, was also the widow of Sean Rooney who died in the September 11 attacks in 2001.

Beverly Eckert, who was among the 50 people killed when a commuter plane crashed outside Buffalo, N.Y. Eckert, was an inspiration to President Barack Obama.

So far at least 73 385 Zimbabweans have been infected with water-borne diarrhea disease since August and 3 524 have died, in Africa's deadliest cholera outbreak in 15 years.

Computer software giant Microsoft has announced plans to open its own stores, in a bid to increase competition against Apple and at a time when many other retailers are struggling in the economic downturn.

Troy Percival, who is recovering from a back surgery he had in December to remove herniated discs and repair some other damage, expects to be ready to pitch for opening day.

On Friday a female suicide bomber blew herself up in a crowd of Iraqi Shi'ite pilgrims on a pilgrimage to a Shiite holy city south of Baghdad on Friday, killing 40 people and injuring 69 others.

Swiss skier Carlo Janka has won the men's giant slalom at the World Championships. A healthy lead after the first run and stretched his advantage over Austrian Benjamin Raich.

Google, Yahoo and Microsoft unite with one common goal and that is to clean up what is called the Canonical Link Tag. The three big search engines agreed to the manage canonicalization issue with the use of a common tag.

Microsoft is offering $250,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or group responsible for the spread of virus software Conficker.

Stocks inched higher in choppy trade on Friday on optimism over the expected passage of an economic stimulus and government plans to shore up the housing market.

Chrysler LLC is making progress in talks with creditors and the United Auto Workers union on a restructuring plan required under a federal bailout, a senior Chrysler executive told Reuters on Friday.

New images claiming to depict the back cover of an upcoming iPhone have started making the rounds on the internet on Friday.

With the U.S. economic stimulus package of $790 billion is set to be approved by Congress, concerns are growing at the Energy Department on how the agency will manage the quick expenditure of about $40 billion included in the package for renewable energy projects meant to boost employment.

Google entered the radio advertising business with great hopes, but the internet search giant pulled out on Thursday.

New Hampshire Republican Sen. Judd Gregg withdrew his name for consideration as President Barack Obama's nominee for Commerce of Secretary stating irresolvable conflicts related to the stimulus package and the Census.

President Obama urged Congress to pass the economic stimulus package before the end of the holiday weekend so he could sign it into law in an effort to help the nation emerge from a recession.

U.S Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner will attend a gathering of finance ministers from seven industrialized nations in Rome tomorrow to urge fellow ministers to take exceptional measure to address challenges facing the financial sector.