IBT Staff Reporter

Letting the yuan appreciate cannot solve the U.S. trade imbalance with China, the Foreign Ministry said on Friday, hitting back at planned U.S. Senate legislation aimed at forcing Beijing to loosen controls on its currency.

Greece's finance minister has told lawmakers he sees three scenarios to resolve the debt crisis, including one involving an orderly default with a 50 percent haircut for bondholders, two Greek newspapers reported on Friday.

The board of UBS meets on Friday amid the glamour of Singapore's Grand Prix event to decide the future of its scandal-hit investment bank and CEO Oswald Gruebel, on whose watch it lost $2.3 billion in rogue trading.

In August, as rebels fought forces loyal to President Muammar Gaddafi, two representatives of a British business consortium took a rather long and arduous ferry journey from Malta to the North African country.

Stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Friday after steep declines the previous session, with futures for the S&P 500, the Dow Jones and the Nasdaq 100 up by between 0.6 and 0.8 percent.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Thursday that China is holding to its decades-old strategy to steal American intellectual property, in a pointed statement reflecting U.S. officials' growing impatience with Beijing.

European shares inched up from 26-month lows on Friday and the euro rose after the G20 major economies pledged to preserve financial stability, but risk sentiment remained fragile on fears of renewed recession in the developed world.

European shares were poised to claw their way off 26-month lows on Friday, but Asian stocks slid on fears of renewed recession in the developed world and as a pledge from the G20 to preserve financial stability left investors largely unimpressed.

The world's major economies on Thursday pledged to prevent Europe's debt crisis from undermining banks and financial markets, and said the euro zone's rescue fund could be bolstered.

The world's major economies on Thursday pledged to prevent Europe's debt crisis from undermining banks and financial markets, and said the euro zone's rescue fund could be bolstered.

Europe's banking regulator said there were no plans to force more than a dozen weaker mid-tier banks to raise capital more quickly, saying an original timetable remained in place.

World leaders and finance chiefs on Thursday pushed Europe to quell its debt crisis and big emerging economies said they might provide more money to help stop the chaos from spreading.

A situation where Greece cannot pay back its public debt can no longer be excluded, European Central Bank Governing Council member Klaas Knot was quoted as saying on Friday.

Asian stocks slid to a 16-month low and emerging market currencies fell on Friday amid fears that the developed world is stumbling back into recession, while a pledge from the G20 to preserve financial stability left investors largely unimpressed.

Finance officials from the Group of 20 nations on Thursday pledged to preserve financial stability and said central banks were ready to provide liquidity as needed, but a communique after the meeting offered few hints of fresh action to contain Europe's raging debt crisis or revive the faltering global economy.

The privacy curtains that separate care spaces in hospitals and clinics are frequently contaminated with potentially dangerous bacteria, according to a U.S. study.

U.S. President Barack Obama sought support for his job creation plan at a philanthropic summit on Wednesday, saying improving the prospects of the world's richest economy was good for the world.

Pakistan's foreign minister said on Thursday the United States risks losing an ally if it continues to publicly criticise Islamabad's performance in the war against militancy.

The following are highlights of comments by finance ministers and central bankers in Washington this week for a meeting of the Group of 20 and the semiannual meetings of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.

Former India captain Mansur Ali Khan Pataudi has died aged 70 after losing his battle against a lung infection on Thursday.

The euro rose briefly early on Friday on talk of a G20 emergency statement to address the euro zone crisis, but the prospect of a global recession kept Asian stocks firmly on track for their worst weekly drop since November 2008.

The world's major economies on Thursday pledged to prevent Europe's debt crisis from undermining banks and financial markets, and said the euro zone's rescue fund could be bolstered.

ZTE Corp <0763.HK><000063.SZ>, the world's No.5 cell phone maker, plans to launch 4G handsets in the second quarter of 2012, aiming to grab more market share by expanding its product range, a senior executive said.

Alibaba.com shares rose as much as 7 percent on Friday after three private equity firms said they were looking to buy shares in its parent, Alibaba Group, a move analysts say takes the heat off Alibaba Chairman Jack Ma for a speedy IPO.

Asian stocks fell to a 16-month low and emerging market currencies tumbled on Friday amid fears of a global recession, but a pledge from the G20 to preserve financial stability helped stem the scale of losses.

Pat Hughes left the bar he owns in New York City, flew across the country and showed up at 4:45 a.m. Wednesday morning to stand in line.

Pat Hughes left the bar he owns in New York City, flew across the country and showed up at 4:45 a.m. Wednesday morning to stand in line.

The world's major economies pledged on Thursday to prevent the euro zone's debt crisis from undermining banks and markets but announced no new specific measures to shore up confidence in the global economy.

The son of a U.S. government chemist charged in an insider trading case pleaded guilty on Thursday to an unrelated charge of possessing several child pornography that included hundreds of graphic sexual images.