CANADA

The U.S. government is likely to take a loss on General Motors Co in the first offering of the automaker's stock, six people familiar with preparations for the landmark IPO said.

Israeli start-up firm Tawkon has developed software to measure mobile telephone handset radiation aimed at helping users reduce exposure to emissions without giving up their phones.

Chinese officials have ordered state companies to meet investment bankers to explore ways to block BHP Billiton's $39 billion (25 billion pound) bid for Potash Corp , a source with direct knowledge of the matter said.

Wall Street was poised for a strong open on Friday after a better-than-expected jobs report lifted investor optimism on the economy.

Canada's Goldcorp Inc agreed to buy Argentina-focused gold miner Andean Resources Ltd for C$3.6 billion ($3.4 billion), trumping a competing offer from rival Eldorado Gold Corp.

(Corrects U.S. dollar figure in headline and first par to $3.4 billion from $3.2 billion)

Stock index futures pointed to a slightly lower open on Wall Street on Friday, with futures for the S&P 500 down 0.21 percent, Dow Jones futures down 0.17 percent and Nasdaq100 futures flat at 0725 GMT (3:25 a.m. ET).

Banks said they need to be more open about the size of their bonus pools and the methodology for paying star bankers, after making progress in other areas of reforming pay structures.

Chinese and other investors have approached at least one big Canadian pension manager about a bid for Canada's Potash Corp to rival BHP Billiton's $39 billion (25.3 billion pound) hostile offer.

The government of Saskatchewan may consider changes to its potash royalty system, in the event of a foreign takeover of Potash Corp, the premier of the western Canadian province said in a television interview on Thursday.

Boeing Co reiterated on Thursday that it expects North America airlines to take delivery of about 7,200 new planes over the next 20 years at a value of about $700 billion.

German carmaker Volkswagen is planning a new assembly line at Russia's GAZ in order to boost production in the booming market.

Oil dipped on Thursday as investors turned their attention to upcoming U.S. employment reports, following gains of almost 3 percent a day earlier after positive manufacturing data lifted spirits across markets.

Costco Wholesale Corp , the largest U.S. warehouse club operator, reported a 7 percent rise in August sales at stores open at least a year, aided by surge in gasoline prices and foreign currency gains.

Michael Wei and Lucy Hornby

Canada's established telecom companies must spend more than half of a C$770 million ($727 million) fund kept in escrow to expand broadband Internet to rural and remote communities and return the remainder to urban customers, the communications regulator said on Tuesday.

With Magna International's $1 billion buyout of founder Frank Stronach now a done deal, the auto parts maker will now shift its focus to a more aggressive expansion in emerging markets.

Protesters from environmental group Greenpeace boarded a drilling rig operated by UK oil explorer Cairn Energy on Monday to try to stall development of what the oil industry hopes will become a major new producing centre.

U.S. safety regulators have opened a preliminary investigation into claims Hyundai Motor Co's best-selling car in America, the Sonata sedan, may have steering problems.

Magna International Inc said it will likely go ahead later on Tuesday with a plan to buy out founder Frank Stronach's controlling share block, collapsing the giant auto-parts maker's dual-class share structure.

Potash Corp said on Tuesday its suitor BHP Billiton has called many of its customers, a move that the fertilizer maker condemned as being inappropriate and highly unethical.