IBT Staff Reporter

President Barack Obama, the governor of Alabama and Mayor of Tuscaloosa and other officials toured the massive wreckage of major thunderstorms and tornadoes that hit the city on Wednesday and vowed to press forward to help in recovery efforts while sounding a hopeful not despite the tragedy.

Renault sought to move on from an embarrassing botched spy probe, pledging on Friday to quickly find a new chief operating officer as it took a step toward firing a security executive at the heart of the investigation.

Amazon.com Inc apologized to customers for an outage at its Web hosting business that caused some websites to crash, saying it would credit them for their inconvenience.

U.S. consumers increased spending for a ninth straight month in March as they stretched to cover higher costs for food and gasoline, with inflation posting its biggest year-on-year gain in 10 months.

Warren Buffett could use a root beer float right about now -- the investment guru is feeling the heat from 40,000 shareholders who may want to criticize him, question whether he has lost touch or even push him to retire.

Caterpillar Inc recorded a fivefold profit surge and raised its 2011 profit forecast as customers bought new heavy equipment to replace old machines that aged during the economic downturn.

U.S. stocks got a lift on Friday from Caterpillar and other U.S. industrials' shares, putting the Dow in line for its best monthly performance since December.

People with criminal records are finding difficulty in getting jobs, prompting a spurt in lawsuits that challenge hiring policies that discriminate against applicants with criminal backgrounds.

Thomson Reuters Corp reached a tentative agreement for a new contract with the New York Newspaper Guild on Friday, paving the way to end a more than two-year-long battle over health benefits and wages.

The most anticipated wedding of the year has come and gone. Prince William and Kate Middleton are officially a married couple.

Major auto suppliers blew past profit expectations on Friday, suggesting the recovery in the global auto market remains strong despite rising oil prices and the disaster in Japan.

PSN subscribers have overwhelmed Sony with questions over whether their game data, trophies, and PS+ cloud saves were affected by the recent breach of the company's server.

See's Candies is experiencing more commodities cost pressure from dairy than from cocoa, despite the high prices of cocoa beans and uncertainty in the market, the chief executive of the Berkshire Hathaway -owned business said on Friday.

The jury in Raj Rajaratnam's insider trading trial completed a fifth day of deliberations without reaching a verdict on Friday, mirroring the time jurors have spent in other high-profile, complex white-collar cases.

A 55 feet long fish has been found in the seashore of Guangdong, China. According to a local newspaper, the big fish weighs at least 10,000 pounds.

The Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday said it won a court order freezing the assets of China Voice Holding Corp, and accused a co-founder of the telecommunications company of running an $8.6 million Ponzi scheme.

U.S. consumers increased spending for a ninth straight month in March as they stretched to cover higher costs for food and gasoline, with inflation posting its biggest year-on-year gain in 10 months.

The U.S. economy is not fully recovered from its deep recession, with housing still weighing on growth, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke said on Friday in a speech spelling out ways the U.S. central bank has studied lower income communities.

NASA calls off the launch for the space shuttle Endeavour due to a problem with Auxiliary Power Unit 1 heaters.

A strong showing by Caterpillar and other U.S. industrials' shares led the market higher on Friday, putting the Dow on track for its best month since December.

DLA Piper, one of the biggest law firms in the world, has joined forces with California-based boutique law firm Stevens, O'Connell & Jacobs LLP to create a legal powerhouse in Sacramento.

The day has finally come and the mysterious royal wedding dress has been unveiled. Some said Kate's Wedding dress would change wedding dress trends. Will it really?

Verizon is adding warning labels to its phones to tell you that they can track your location.

Oil prices pushed higher on Friday, on pace to post its eighth consecutive monthly rise, lifted by the weak dollar and turmoil in North Africa and the Middle East that offset concerns about slowing U.S. economic growth and the threat to demand from high prices.

This is Clarence House, which will serve as a ‘starter home’ for the royal newlyweds Prince William and Kate.

Shares of Research In Motion Ltd fell 12 percent in pre-market trade on Friday, a day after the Blackberry maker slashed its first-quarter outlook as product delays hurt sales in the United States and Latin America.

Warren Buffett could use a root beer float right about now -- the investment guru is feeling the heat from 40,000 shareholders who may want to criticize him, question whether he has lost touch or even push him to retire.

Industrials led the Dow higher on Friday following a strong quarter and outlook from Caterpillar, and the index looked set to notch its best month since December.

Chevron Corp , the second-largest U.S. oil company, reported a larger-than-expected 36 percent rise in earnings on Friday, as oil prices surged and refining improved along with global fuel demand.