BUSINESS

European stocks plunged Friday on fears a victory by the Socialist candidate in France's presidential election could upend prospects of setting the continent's second-largest economy on a sound footing.

The brother and co-conspirator of the man who assassinated Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin in 1995 was released Thursday after serving over 16 years in prison.

Mitt Romney appeared Friday on Fox to discuss the April jobs report showing 115,000 jobs added, far lower than expected.

International Business Machines Corp. (NYSE: IBM), the No. 2 computer maker, said it agreed to acquire privately held Tealeaf Technology, a specialist customer analytics software.

With the ?Diablo 3? release date drawing near, Blizzard plans to launch an animated short called ?Diablo 3: Wrath? that will detail the game?s backstory. The company released a behind-the-scenes video on May 3rd to give fans insight as to what the video short will entail.

Unlike in France, where voters choose between two distinct candidates (conservative Nicolas Sarkozy and Socialist Francois Hollande), the Greek election is more complicated.

The California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS) is suing Wal-Mart Stores Inc. (NYSE: WMT), accusing leaders of the world's biggest retailer of not upholding the best interest of shareholders by quashing an investigation of bribery of public officials by its Mexican subsidiary.

Yahoo CEO Scott Thompson is under fire after an activist hedge fund found that he had embellished his resume regarding details on his academic credentials, prompting the board of directors of Yahoo Inc. to launch a probe into records about their chief executive office.

Samsung unveiled its highly anticipated Galaxy S3 on May 3. The smartphone comes with a quad-core turban Exynos processor, a 4.8-inch HD Super AMOLED display, an 8 megapixel camera and a gigantic 2020mAh replaceable battery.

Indian Rupee dropped to four-months-low of 53.83 at midsession before closing at 53.41/42 against dollar on Thursday, despite Reserve Bank of India's's suspected interventions. Rupee has been continuing its steady fall and the analytics are expecting the Indian currency to touch an all time low of 55.00 per dollar within a short period.

Output for the eurozone manufacturing and services sectors shrank in April more than initially reported, according to Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) data released Friday by Markit, the London firm that publishes a monthly independent surveys that gauges economic activity worldwide. Business conditions deteriorated at a faster rate towards the end of the month, said Chris Williamson, chief economist at Markit, explaining the downward revision from preliminary estimates released April 23....

A Utah woman thought she was involved in a terrorist plot when she opened up a tampon to find a tiny package of white powder. Police however, identified the substance as cocaine.

Amidst the hoopla created by the launch of Samsung's flagship Galaxy S3, the second-largest South Korean electronics conglomerate, LG silently launched its Optimus LTE2 on the same day.

Over the past few months, the tech world has been abuzz with rumors that Apple's upcoming iPhone model, aka iPhone 5, will follow rival Android smartphones, sporting a bigger screen than its predecessors. Adding more credibility to that speculation, a new report has suggested that the next iPhone will come with yet another glass-bodied design, sporting a bigger 4-inch display.

Shares of Yahoo Inc. (Nasdaq: YHOO), the No. 3 search engine, shrugged off a new charge by activist shareholder Third Point that new CEO Scott Thompson falsified his credentials.

On the final day of campaigning in France's presidential election, French President Nicolas Sarkozy's socialist challenger Francois Hollande leads the incumbent by 6 percentage points before Sunday?s decisive poll.

Samsung has finally launched its flagship Galaxy S3 phone. The official commercial of the phone is also out, which shows that the phone is made for the humans, giving a direct hint towards the natural interaction features that the company has provided in the phone.

The U.S. economy added far fewer jobs than expected in April, while the unemployment rate edged down as more people gave up hope of finding jobs, reinforcing the fear that the job market recovery could be losing steam.

A UC San Diego student, who was forgotten by the DEA in a cell for five days without food, water or any human contact, has filed a $20 million lawsuit against federal drug officials saying he suffered kidney failure. Daniel Chong's attorney Eugene Iredale has sent a five-page demand notice to the Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA) general counsel, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported.

The second largest U.S. public pension fund said on Thursday it had sued current and former executives and board members at Wal-Mart Stores Inc, alleging bribery and a cover-up in the company's expansion in Mexico.

Futures on major U.S. stock indices point to a higher opening ahead of key U.S. monthly nonfarm payrolls and unemployment data from the government.

The companies whose shares are moving in pre-market trade Friday are: DigitalGlobe Inc, Linkedin Corporation, Veolia Environnement, Deutsche Bank, The Dow Chemical Company, Northstar Realty Finance Corp and Seadrill Ltd American International Group Inc.

Asian markets were down Friday as more negative outlook by European Central Bank president Mario Draghi and weaker-than-expected US Institute for Supply Management non-manufacturing report weighed on investor sentiments.

China must follow a low-carbon growth path to reduce carbon emissions, which are believed to be highest among several cities in the country, the World Bank said on Thursday.Shanghai, Beijin and Tianjin are amongst the cities accounting for around 70 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions which is set to increase as china's population climbs to another 350 million in the next couple of decades, the international financial group said in a report.

Hong Kong's Sun Hung Kai Properties Ltd (0016.HK) said Friday that its former chairman Walter Kwok was arrested Thursday night by the Independent Commission Against Corruption in connection with corruption charges.

The top aftermarket NYSE gainers Thursday were: Dolby Laboratories, Heckmann Corp, Leapfrog Enterprises, Cincinnati Bell, LinkedIn Corp and Active Network. The top aftermarket NYSE losers were: TAL International Group, Proto Labs, Northstar Realty Finance, InvenSense and Assisted Living Concepts Inc.

Asian stock markets declined Friday as weaker-than-expected data on the U.S. services sector and disappointing April retail sales fueled concerns that the recovery in the world's largest economy is slowing.

French bank BNP Paribas SA (BNP.FR) reported Friday 9.6 percent rise in profits in the first quarter from a year ago, boosted by the sale of more than half of its stake in real estate firm Klepierre.

The top after-market NASDAQ gainers Thursday were: Einstein Noah Restaurant Group, Spreadtrum Communications, Sierra Wireless, PowerSecure International and Seanergy Maritime Holdings Corp. The top after-market NASDAQ losers were: Body Central Corp., Anika Therapeutics, QLogic Corporation, Caribou Coffee Company and Pacific Biosciences of California.