IBT Staff Reporter

French Bank Societe Generale said on Friday it was cooperating with a Department of Justice investigation into Texas financier Allen Stanford's alleged Ponzi scheme.

The world will not see the kind of coordinated response policymakers organized during the global financial crisis in 2009 but the United States and the European Union must work closely together to overcome the current economic challenges, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Friday.

Research In Motion is losing market share much faster than expected to rivals Apple and Google, amid mounting concerns over its cash flow and ability to meet its outlook, analysts warned on Friday.

Air France-KLM has split a $12 billion order for long-range jets following a year-long competition, announcing plans to buy 25 Boeing 787 Dreamliners and 25 Airbus A350s.

EU regulators are investigating whether Google dominates in Internet search but have yet to decide if this is the case, the EU's antitrust chief said on Friday.

Europe and the United States could face 10 years of slow growth and high unemployment if a global solution for the euro zone debt crisis is not implemented soon, former British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Friday.

Research In Motion is losing market share much faster than expected, warned analysts on Friday, a day after the BlackBerry maker gave a weak outlook in further proof that the company was not gaining ground on rivals Apple Inc and Google Inc.

Air France-KLM split a $12 billion deal to buy long-range jets between rival manufacturers, announcing firm orders on Friday for 25 Boeing 787 Dreamliners and 25 Airbus A350s.

Stock futures pointed to a weaker open for equities on Wall Street on Friday after strong gains in the previous session, with futures for the S&P 500, for the Dow Jones and for the Nasdaq 100 down 0.4-0.7 percent.

Findings of the second major investigation by the government into the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, may press BP into putting over $30 billion on the table to quickly settle its outstanding legal headaches.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner pressed euro zone ministers on Friday to leverage their 440 billion euro bailout fund and free up more resources to tackle a two-year-old debt crisis, a senior euro zone official said.

Findings of the second major investigation by the government into the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill, may press BP into putting over $30 billion on the table to quickly settle its outstanding legal headaches.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner pressed euro zone finance ministers in a brief meeting on Friday to leverage the bloc's bailout fund to help solve the sovereign debt crisis, a senior euro zone official said.

World shares rose half a percent to one-week highs on Friday while the euro clung to gains from the previous session on hopes that European policymakers would finally come up with a bold plan to combat a deepening debt crisis.

European shares were set for a stronger open on Friday and the euro steadied as investors hoped for a big policy move from European finance ministers to combat the region's growing debt crisis.

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) raised interest rates on Friday for the 12th time in 18 months and said it will persist with its anti-inflationary policy stance, even as growth slows in Asia's third-largest economy.

Carrying two worn bags full of toothbrushes and toothpaste, Raj Verma rides his battered bicycle around villages in India's northern state of Uttar Pradesh, leaving fresh supplies of Colgate products at the small shops he visits.

It might not sound like much of a victory. The United States and other oil consuming countries release emergency stocks of oil to put a lid on prices. The result: oil prices in London rise by $1 since the program began, three months ago.

Asian stocks jumped on Friday and the euro steadied, after rising sharply the previous day, as investors hoped for a big policy move from European finance ministers to combat the debt crisis.

Private equity firm Silver Lake is considering a bid for Internet firm Yahoo Inc, according to media reports late Thursday.

Gold slipped more than 1 percent on Friday, heading for its biggest weekly drop since March 2009, as stock markets gained and the euro rose after major central banks around the world strived to fight the debt crisis in Europe.

Mao Zedong famously said a single spark could start a revolutionary prairie fire. That fear is now driving his Communist Party successors to grapple with how to tame China's expanding legions of microbloggers.

State-run oil firms will raise petrol prices by nearly 5 percent from Friday, a move that eases their subsidy burden but adds near-term pressure to stubbornly high inflation in Asia's third-largest economy.

The BSE Sensex rose 1 percent early on Friday, tracking firm Asian markets that were boosted by a relatively stable euro, and ahead of the RBI's policy.

A former art dealer was arrested in Florida on Thursday on accusations he sold a Los Angeles collector forged paintings he claimed were by Claude Monet, Mark Rothko and others, federal prosecutors said.

A story posted on Parade magazine's website on Thursday in which Brad Pitt talks about his life with ex-wife Jennifer Aniston put the actor in damage control mode, saying his words had been misinterpreted.

The union representing many of the 62,000 workers at Ralphs, Vons and Albertsons supermarkets in southern California issued a required 72-hour notice of its plan to cancel its extended contract, a move that could pave the way for a strike.

LG Electronics Inc <066570.KS> plans to restructure its domestic mobile operation by reducing marketing staff to improve the struggling business, a source familiar with the matter said on Friday.

The U.S. pursuit of offshore tax evaders is widening to include Israel, where U.S. authorities are scrutinizing three of Israel's largest banks over suspicions their Swiss outposts helped American clients evade taxes, people briefed on the matter said.