IBT Staff Reporter

NBC Universal has decided not to renew its contract to sell television shows on iTunes, becoming the second major media company to challenge Apple Inc's dominance in digital entertainment.

Google Inc is giving more credit to the original reporting of news agencies like the Associated Press while setting the stage to generate advertising revenue from Google News, the company said on Friday.

L'Oreal said on Friday it was confident on the outlook for 2007, despite signs of a slowdown in the United States, thanks to booming demand in new markets and the launch of new brands like Sanoflore and Diesel.

Virgin Group boss Richard Branson said on Friday he would aim to avoid buying fuel-thirsty four-engined airplanes in future to curb fuel costs and the environmental impact of his fast-growing airlines.

Publisher McGraw-Hill Cos Inc is replacing the president of Standard & Poor's, the company's financial services division, effective immediately, amid questions about the role of credit-rating agencies in the subprime mortgage crisis.

Shareholders of Monster Worldwide Inc may have to brace for further losses if the U.S. housing slump and credit market turmoil hurt U.S. economic growth and jobs in coming months.

President George W. Bush on Friday tried to calm financial market turmoil from the credit crisis by announcing proposals intended to prevent homeowners from defaulting on risky mortgages. In trying to soothe those worries, Bush said the U.S. economy was healthy enough to weather the credit crisis and that the subprime market problems represented only a modest part of the economy.

Prepared text of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke's speech at Kansas City's Economic Symposium, Jackson Hole, Wyo.

The shorter Sept. visit to the Asia-Pacific economic summit is seen as neglecting Asia's concerns. An Iraq military report and 9/11 commemorations loom.

The Federal Reserve is set to act as needed to limit impacts of financial turmoil on the economy but will not bail out investors who made poor decisions, Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Friday. He also acknowledged that disruptions due to a slumping housing market and delinquencies among subprime loans could have damaging effects on the broader economy.

Core U.S. consumer prices rose by a less-than-expected 0.1 percent in July, showing stable prices that held the year-on-year rate of nonfood, nonenergy inflation to 1.9 percent for the second month in a row, the Commerce Department said on Friday.

Barclays was recovering from a week of bad headlines, denials and late-night statements on Friday, as analysts said there was little substance to the frenzy and few harbored genuine worries over the bank's health.

Allies of Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf have raised objections to a power-sharing deal he is negotiating with former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, casting fresh doubt on the future of the embattled president.

The Indian government said on Thursday it had decided to form a panel to study a controversial nuclear deal with the United States, taking into account objections from communist parties who shore up the coalition.

Chinese demand has already fuelled booms in markets from copper to shipping, but the rise of the world's fastest growing economy is also driving up prices for another hot commodity: bilingual bankers.

Baidu, known as China's Google, still intends to seek a domestic listing but is focusing for now on ramping up a fledgling Japanese service with plans to hire dozens of people in the second half.

The Nikkei rose 2.6 percent on Friday as news that President George W. Bush will outline reforms to help homeowners with subprime mortgages sparked broad-based buying, and Dell Inc's earnings lifted high-tech stocks.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a firmer opening on Friday, with all eyes on speeches by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and President George W. Bush, both expected by analysts to touch on the U.S. subprime crisis.

World stocks surged on Friday on hopes the U.S. government and central bank will act to alleviate a crisis in subprime, or poor credit quality, U.S. mortgages and ease a global bank lending squeeze the problem has triggered.

China has found microscopic worms in wooden packaging from the United States and uncovered substandard U.S. vitamin pills and fish oil for children, Chinese media said on Friday in the latest volley of cross-border accusations.

U.S. President George W. Bush will outline reforms on Friday to help struggling subprime mortgage borrowers and his central bank chief will deliver a speech which will be pored over for hints of a looming rate cut.

President George W. Bush will propose reforms on Friday intended to help homeowners with subprime mortgages avoid default, his first public step to address a crisis that has created turmoil in financial markets around the world.

U.S. stocks fell on Thursday on mounting concerns that credit market upheaval will erode bank profits and hold back consumer spending, but optimism about corporate investment helped lift technology shares.

Dell Inc, the world's second-largest personal computer maker, on Thursday reported higher-than-expected profit as it benefited from lower costs for disk drives, chips and other components. But the company also said it expected component cost declines to slow in the second half, crimping profits, and it delayed any stock buybacks until after it files overdue financial reports with securities regulators.

The U.S. commercial paper market shrank again last week and has lost 11 percent of its value in just a month, according to Federal Reserve data showing credit markets remain troubled.

U.S. stocks fell on Thursday as financial stocks dropped on credit worries, overshadowing earlier optimism about technology company profits. Lehman Brothers slashed earnings estimates on four top Wall Street banks, adding its voice to the chorus of widely followed research analysts warning credit turmoil would cut into bank profits.

Toys R Us Inc is recalling 27,000 wooden coloring cases that were made in China and sold under its Imaginarium brand because lead was found in the printed ink on the art set's outer packaging and in some watercolor paints.

Hotels and airlines are bracing for softer demand as the economy shows signs of slowing, but the pain may not hit the travel industry for months.

Morgan Stanley has completed the UK's first residential property derivative trade with an embedded exotic option.