IBT Staff Reporter

Leading world economies on Friday pledged $430 billion in new funding for the International Monetary Fund, more than doubling its lending power in a bid to protect the global economy from the euro-zone debt crisis.

Bank of America Corp directors, who were sued by shareholders for allegedly paying too much for Merrill Lynch & Co in 2008, must defend a proposed $20 million settlement of the claims in federal court in New York, court papers show.

Sanjay Jha, the chief executive to Motorola Mobility, was awarded a total compensation package of about $47 million in 2011, almost four times his 2010 pay, according to a regulatory filing.

China produces 97 percent of the world's rare earths, minerals that are critical for the production of everything from cell phones to missiles -- and now it wants to keep more of them for itself. The world is worried, but there may be little it can do.

The chairman of Zhejiang Geely Holding Group Co., which acquired Volvo in 2010, faces a grueling dilemma: Risk diluting the storied Swedish marque by sharing technology with Geely or let the Chinese brand face cutthroat competition alone.

Law firm Greenberg Traurig LLP on Friday said it has had preliminary discussions about hiring lawyers from Dewey & LeBoeuf LLP, which is struggling amid high debt and a raft of partner defections.

BlackBerry maker Research In Motion has hired law firm Milbank, Tweed, Hadley & McCloy LLP to work out a restructuring plan that could include selling assets, seeking joint ventures or licensing patents, people briefed on the matter said.

Google Inc's former chief executive Eric Schmidt received a bump in his annual salary to $1.25 million from the $1 he received in the previous year, after he became the executive chairman of the company in April 2011.

Google executive chairman Eric Schmidt and billionaire co-founder Larry Page have teamed up with Avatar director James Cameron and other investors to back an ambitious space exploration and natural resources venture, details of which will be unveiled next week.

Chesapeake Energy Corp , in response to a Reuters report earlier this week, will disclose to shareholders the existence of loans its CEO Aubrey McClendon took out against his interest in thousands of wells granted to him as a corporate perk, according to a regulatory filing on Friday.

Labor groups at bankrupt American Airlines said on Friday they support a potential merger with rival US Airways Group Inc in a deal they say would save more jobs than a plan by parent AMR Corp to reorganize as a stand-alone carrier.

JPMorgan Chase & Co is close to selling its U.S. metal concentrates trading arm and could announce a deal as early as Monday, two sources who were informed of the deal told Reuters this week.

Rich Ross stepped down as chairman of Walt Disney Co's movie studio after a less than three-year run that included the release of John Carter, one of the biggest flops in recent Hollywood history.

After a strong first quarter, Wall Street has gotten a case of the jitters.

JPMorgan Chase & Co on Friday won the dismissal of a pension fund lawsuit accusing it of mishandling its money by investing in notes from its client Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc, which later went bankrupt.

China and Russia are making military history this weekend with the first bilateral naval exercises the two governments have ever conducted together.

Stocks mostly rose on Friday, led by solid earnings from McDonald's, General Electric and Microsoft, but declines in banks and technology shares pulled indexes from their day's highs.

Ex-Societe Generale trader Jerome Kerviel, who is appealing a three-year prison sentence for his role in France's biggest-ever rogue trading scandal, is suing his former employer for allegedly obtaining a verdict under false pretences, his lawyer said on Friday.

Stocks mostly rose on Friday, led by solid earnings from McDonald's, General Electric and Microsoft, but declines in banks and technology shares pulled indexes from their day's highs.

The three main unions at bankrupt American Airlines have reached a tentative deal with US Airways Group intended to put pressure on a reluctant American to start merger talks with its rival, the unions and US Airways said on Friday.

Ads within smartphone applications such as the popular puzzle game Angry Birds are turning into a key driver for mobile advertising, as apps become the main distribution method for media on mobile phones, according to a report.

The Group of 20 nations on Friday pledged more than $430 billion to better than double the International Monetary Fund's lending capacity and protect the global economy from the euro zone's debt crisis.

The Group of 20 nations on Friday were poised to commit at least $400 billion to bulk up the International Monetary Fund's war chest to fight any widening of Europe's debt crisis.

Days after being rebuked by shareholders, Citigroup Inc Chief Executive Vikram Pandit and the bank's directors have been sued by a shareholder accusing them of awarding outsized pay to top executives.

Chesapeake Energy Corp CEO Aubrey McClendon has been sued by a shareholder over potential conflicts of interest on the same day that a Wall Street analyst urged leadership changes at the company.

French polling institutes will not release exit polls or projected results for the presidential election on Sunday before voting ends at 8 p.m. (1800 GMT), the polling watchdog said on Friday.

Stocks rose on Friday, putting the S&P 500 on pace for its biggest weekly gain in the past five weeks, led by solid earnings from McDonald's, General Electric and Microsoft.

In the aftermath of India's ballistic missile test of its powerful new weapon, the Agni-5, people are asking, what is China's response?

General Electric Co topped Wall Street's profit and revenue forecasts for the first quarter, helped by strong demand for energy equipment and railroad locomotives.