UNITED STATES

China on Friday said it was sending an envoy to Washington to try to ease trade frictions as its currency regime comes under fire, warning that threats from U.S. legislators could stifle room for progress.

European shares rose modestly on Friday, lifted by gains in banking stocks, but concerns over Greece's large debt burden remained, keeping the euro on the back foot against the dollar.

Asian stocks rose for a sixth straight week on Friday, their longest string of weekly gains since a global bull market began a year ago, with consumer-related shares leading the way on hopes of a steady economic recovery.

China's quality control watchdog said an investigation into Hewlett-Packard Co showed the company had sold some faulty laptop computers, and ignored consumer protection regulations.

A Manhattan federal judge on Thursday barred the financial news service Theflyonthewall.com from issuing immediate news about analyst research from several Wall Street banks, often before recommendations are shared with clients.

Google Inc could win a widely expected victory next week in Europe's top court and still face many more battles over keyword advertising, the backbone of its Internet business model.

Extreme Obesity problem for the majority of children in America.

The Australian Dollar opens marginally lower today at 0.9204 and spent most of yesterday's local session consolidating around the US92 cent mark.

Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc fired new allegations at Barclays Capital Inc on Thursday, saying the British investment bank got a $13 billion windfall profit from its deal to buy Lehman's U.S. brokerage in September 2008.

Jerry York, a long-time adviser to billionaire investor Kirk Kerkorian and executive whose career spanned the auto and technology industries, has died, Apple Inc said on Thursday.

Sony is teaming up with European movie-rental firm Lovefilm to offer TV viewers in Britain instant access to films from the Web, as a land grab for space on Internet-connected televisions gets under way.

Four top Federal Reserve officials urged Congress on Thursday not to strip the U.S. central bank of the authority to supervise small banks, saying they would lose an important finger on the pulse of the economy that helps them guide monetary policy.

Labor market and consumer prices data on Thursday showed the U.S. economy is on a moderate growth path and inflation pressures are contained, backing up the Federal Reserve's vow to keep benchmark interest rates ultra-low for some time.

The tension level in the debate on U.S. financial reform rose on Thursday as Democrats slapped back at a Republican leader's comment about punk staffers and a pivotal vote neared in the Senate.

The stock market is nearly flat in afternoon trading despite several solid economic reports from the morning session as the financial and energy sector drag down the market.

Fresh off repaying U.S. taxpayers, PNC Financial Services Group said on Thursday it gave Chief Executive James Rohr an $18 million pay package for 2009, according to a regulatory filing.

Creditors of the owner of the Sex.com website have filed an involuntary bankruptcy petition against the company, stalling a lender foreclosure auction for the valuable website that was scheduled to begin on Thursday.

Former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, whose legacy has been tarnished by the global financial crisis, on Thursday laid out a scholarly defense of why Fed policy did not fuel the housing bubble.

Barnes & Noble Inc promoted the executive who spearheaded the development and launch of its Nook electronic reader to be its new chief executive, as the largest specialty U.S. bookseller accelerates its push into digital books.

AstraZeneca Plc won a U.S. court battle on Thursday over product liability claims for its blockbuster Seroquel schizophrenia treatment, the first such case to go to trial.

FedEx Corp raised its fiscal-year outlook on Thursday after quarterly profit more than doubled, with strong Asian export volumes more than compensating for flat U.S. demand.