IBT Staff Reporter

Media baron Rupert Murdoch used his new Twitter account this weekend to attack the Obama Administration's opposition to parts of proposed legislation designed to combat Internet piracy.

U.S. stock investors will return to a tug of war between signs of domestic strength and overseas concerns this week as a batch of critical earnings reports look to add credence to the idea the economy is improving, while credit rating downgrades in Europe will keep that region's difficulties in view.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao pressed Saudi Arabia to open its huge oil and gas resources to expanded Chinese investment, media reports said on Sunday against a backdrop of growing tension over Iran and worries over its crude exports to the Asian power.

Honda Motor Co <7267.T> will completely overhaul its flood-hit factory in Thailand in a project that could cost more than 50 billion yen ($650 million), the Nikkei business daily reported on Sunday.

White House officials raised concerns on Saturday about online-piracy legislation pending in Congress that Facebook and Google Inc. have decried as heavy-handed, but that Hollywood studios and music labels say is needed to save U.S. jobs.

Iran said on Saturday it had evidence Washington was behind the recent killing of one of its nuclear scientists, state television reported, at a time when tensions over the country's nuclear program have escalated to their highest level ever.

Canada's David Hearn responded in the best possible way to some good-natured banter from his compatriots by charging up the second-round leaderboard at the Sony Open in Hawaii on Friday.

Actor Mark Wahlberg wants to have a jailhouse chat with James Whitey Bulger and would be interested in pursuing a project about the purported Boston mob boss accused of 19 murders.

Passengers leapt into the sea and fought over lifejackets in panic when an Italian cruise ship ran aground and keeled over, killing at least three and leaving dozens missing.

White House officials raised concerns on Saturday about online piracy legislation pending in Congress that Google and Facebook have decried as heavy-handed and Hollywood studios and music labels say is needed to save U.S. jobs.

PepsiCo Inc said company tests of its Tropicana orange juice showed low levels of a potentially dangerous fungicide, but levels were below federal safety concerns and did not pose a health risk.

White House officials raised concerns on Saturday about online piracy legislation in the works in Congress that top technology companies have decried as heavy-handed, saying a lighter touch would be better.

European leaders promised on Saturday to speed up plans to strengthen spending rules and get a permanent bailout fund up and running as soon as possible, a day after U.S. agency S&P cut the ratings of several euro zone countries' creditworthiness.

France risks another downgrade of its sovereign credit rating if its public debt and budget deficit deteriorate further, Standard & Poor's said on Saturday, a day after it cut the country's top-notch AAA rating by one notch to AA+.

Former NFL player Jeremy Bloom anxiously scanned the crowd at a taco party under the luminous faux-sky of the Venetian hotel's canal walk in Las Vegas. The wide receiver turned entrepreneur wasn't hoping to spot friends or catch a waiter's attention -- he was on the lookout for venture capitalists.

Former NFL player Jeremy Bloom anxiously scanned the crowd at a taco party under the luminous faux-sky of the Venetian hotel's canal walk in Las Vegas. The wide receiver turned entrepreneur wasn't hoping to spot friends or catch a waiter's attention -- he was on the lookout for venture capitalists.

Stock investors will return to a tug of war between signs of domestic strength and overseas concerns next week as a batch of critical earnings reports look to add credence to the idea the economy is improving, while credit rating downgrades in Europe will keep that region's difficulties in view.

France's credit-rating cut dominated the country's newspapers on Saturday, with the left-leaning Liberation blazing below a front-page headline reading S_RKOZY that the president had lost an A.

The loss of France's much-prized triple-A credit rating three months from elections that will likely hinge on the handling of the economy is a bitter blow for French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who had made the top-notch grade a badge of honor.

Ratings downgrades in the euro zone by S&P underline why Europe must seal a pact to tighten fiscal rules quickly and get its permanent bailout fund up and running as soon as possible, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday.

JPMorgan Chase & Co could lose up to $5 billion from its exposure to Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain, Chief Executive Jamie Dimon said in an interview with Class CNBC, carried in Italian newspaper Milano Finanza on Saturday.

Credit-rating downgrades in the Eurozone by Standard & Poor's underline why Europe must seal a pact to tighten fiscal rules quickly and get its permanent bailout fund up and running as soon as possible, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Saturday.

A group of Indian hackers has offered support to an American man who filed a lawsuit against the Symantec Corp. by publishing source code from a 2006 version of Norton Utilities, a software program at the heart of the legal dispute.

A group of Indian hackers has offered support to an American man who filed a lawsuit against Symantec Corp by publishing source code from a 2006 version of Norton Utilities, a software program at the heart of the legal dispute.

Standard & Poor's downgraded the credit ratings of nine euro- zone countries, stripping France and Austria of their coveted triple-A status but not EU paymaster Germany, in a Black Friday the 13th for the troubled single currency area.

Stock investors will return to a tug of war between signs of domestic strength and overseas concerns next week as a batch of critical earnings reports look to add credence to the idea the economy is improving, while credit rating downgrades in Europe will keep that region's difficulties in view.

The top credit rating of Europe's bailout fund depends on additional financial backing from Germany and the other three remaining AAA-rated euro zone countries, Standard & Poor's said on Friday.

Bank of America , Goldman Sachs and Citigroup could be among companies that beat estimates when they report next week, Thomson Reuters StarMine forecasts show.

Standard & Poor's downgraded the credit ratings of nine euro- zone countries, stripping France and Austria of their coveted triple-A status but not EU paymaster Germany, in a Black Friday the 13th for the troubled single currency area.