IBT Staff Reporter

The world's largest toy maker, Mattel Inc, apologized on Friday for damaging China's reputation after recent massive recalls of its Chinese-made toys, admitting it targeted some goods that were actually up to scratch.

Pfizer Inc, the world's largest drug maker, said on Friday it is in talks with investors about spinning off its Japanese research and development laboratory, albeit as a much smaller organization.

Statistics show that listed companies plan to issue more than 30 billion yuan (US 3.99 billion) corporate bonds, which permitted by the China Securities Regulatory Commission (CSRC) on August 14, the Shanghai Securities News reported today.

China’s Central State-owned enterprises (SOE) will pay after-tax profits to the government from the beginning of this October, according to the Ministry of Finance.

The cut in the United States’ interest rates would not stop China’s interest rate hike , and would not create greater difficulties to the country’s inflation, said an expert from Morgan Stanley.

Crude oil continued its march to new records on Thursday, settling above $83 on a plunging dollar and concerns about a storm in the Gulf of Mexico.

The Canadian dollar traded equal to the U.S dollar for the first time in 31 years on Thursday and is expected to remain strong atop a five-year run on the nations booming commodities.

The world should not watch out for dreaded terrorist outfit Al-Qaeda's leader Osama Bin Laden but should concentrate on capturing his deputy Ayman al-Zawahri, the Sunday Telegraph has reported.

U.S. stocks fell for the first time in three days as a weakened dollar and higher oil prices kindled fresh concern about inflation.

Investors continued to flock to Gold on Thursday sending it to another 27-year high on Thursday amid expectations of continuing lower U.S. interest rates brought on by a tough credit market and a weak outlook for the slumping U.S. dollar.

The dollar sank to its lowest levels against the euro since Europe adopted the currency, and came to parity with the Canadian currency on Thursday.

In a new video released by dreaded terrorist outfit Al-Qaeda's media arm As-Sahab, Thursday, September 20, Osama Bin Laden's deputy Ayman al-Zawahri has urged war against Pakistan and said the United States was being defeated in Afghanistan, Iraq and other fronts.

The dollar continued on its downward spiral on Tuesday, falling to an all-time low against the euro and briefly reaching parity with the Canadian dollar for the first time in almost 30 years.

South Africa's most powerful labor group endorsed Jacob Zuma as the next leader of the ruling African National Congress on Thursday, aiming to nudge him into the presidency and the country towards socialism.

Two Wall Street investment banks had dramatically different success in weathering summer market turbulence as results at Goldman Sachs Group Inc easily exceeded expectations, while those at Bear Stearns Cos Inc fell far short.

Private equity firm Carlyle Group said on Thursday it is selling a 7.5 percent stake to an Abu Dhabi investment arm for $1.35 billion in a deal that values the Washington-based buyout company at $20 billion.

Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson told Congress on Thursday they are open to letting Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac buy more troubled home loans if the companies control risk and agree to tougher oversight. Both had previously resisted letting the two mortgage finance companies expand their presence in the mortgage market

Ifbot, the resident robot at a Japanese nursing home, can converse, sing, express emotions and give trivia quizzes to seniors to help with their mental agility. Yet the pale-green gizmo has spent much of the past two years languishing in a corner alone.

Circuit City Stores Increported a wider-than-expected quarterly loss on Thursday as sales of projection and tube TVs sagged, and its shares sank as much as 17 percent to a nearly four-year low.

Goldman Sachs Group Inc said on Thursday that quarterly profit surged 79 percent, blowing away expectations of weak results, as the investment bank generated its second-highest revenue ever despite turbulent summer markets.

While California suffers in the housing crisis, the economy of nearby Washington state is flourishing with strong job growth and some of the highest appreciation in home prices in the nation.

Oil hovered around $82 a barrel on Thursday as sinking U.S. crude inventories and the threat of a storm gathering near Florida increased worries of a winter supply crunch in the world's top consumer.

Stocks were little changed on Thursday as a weak outlook from economic bellwether FedEx and sharply lower profit from investment bank Bear Stearns helped stall a rally that followed this week's aggressive interest rate cut.

The dollar broke above $1.40 per euro for the first time on Thursday, weakened by a hefty U.S. interest rate cut this week and expectations of further cuts in benchmark rates.

Spot gold prices surged to a 28-year high in European trade on Thursday, as the dollar sank to record lows against the euro and oil traded near all-time highs -- raising the precious metal's appeal for investors.

Whoever becomes prime minister of Japan next week after Shinzo Abe's shock resignation will inherit an unpopular administration and face pressure to boost rural spending to revive support, despite high government debt.

Improving access to medicine could save 10 million lives a year globally, a U.N. health envoy said on Thursday, recommending that drugmakers support research for neglected diseases and cut prices in poor countries.

A unit of POSCO, the world's fourth-largest steel maker, said on Thursday that it had won a $350 million order to build India's biggest blast furnace from state-run Steel Authority of India Ltd.

Taiwan's Arima Computer said on Thursday it has signed a letter of intent with Flextronics to sell its notebook PC and server operations to Flextronics for US$191.5 million.