IBT Staff Reporter

Some day soon, when pro-democracy campaigners have their cellphones confiscated by police, they'll be able to hit the panic button -- a special app that will both wipe out the phone's address book and emit emergency alerts to other activists.

Madonna's failed bid to open a school for poor girls in Malawi shows that running a successful charity requires not just good will but also a solid business plan, philanthropy experts say.

Google is preparing its music service and Spotify is headed across the Atlantic.

Two weeks has passed since a massive earthquake and the ensuing tsunami struck Japan to cause one of the most severe natural disasters in Japanese history.

Tokyo Electric Power Co. said Friday it began injecting freshwater into reactors No. 1 and No. 3 at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant to improve cooling efficiency, according to a report.

Research In Motion is facing skeptical investors unsure the BlackBerry maker can pull off a difficult transition as it promises strong growth from a tablet and operating system few have seen.

NEW YORK, March 25 - With the economy on firmer footing the Federal Reserve Bank is unlikely to extend its bond-buying stimulus program beyond a planned $600 billion, several top Fed officials said on Friday.

Before the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, McLaren has received a boost in the form of Lewis Hamilton who fully-committed to the team despite the pre-season technical problems that has plagued the team.

LOS ANGELES - The Weinstein Company is getting into the video game business. On Friday it announced the launch of TWC Games, which will publish games for mobile, social, and console platforms.

A woman who brought a $250 million sexual harassment lawsuit against American Apparel Inc Chief Executive Dov Charney could be forced to take the case to arbitration, rather than pursue it in court.

Wall Street advanced for a third straight day on Friday, giving the S&P 500 its best weekly performance since early February, but volume remained light as global uncertainty persisted.

Wall Street advanced for a third straight day on Friday, giving the S&P its best weekly performance since early February, but volume remained light as global uncertainty persisted.

Instead of opening up the operating system to developers both large in small, Google will restrict Honeycomb to specific manufacturers and developers.

LOS ANGELES - After The Office aired Thursday night, Steve Carell's character's name, Michael Scott, instantly became a top trending on Twitter.

It was reported by Us Weekly that Prince William will be celebrating his bachelor party this weekend with his close friends.

Thomas Hoenig, one of the most outspoken anti-inflation hawks among senior Federal Reserve officials, will step down as president of the Kansas City Fed October 1, the bank said on Friday.

A futures regulator proposal that would place position limits in the commodities markets may not prevent manipulation or speculation, and would prevent operators of commodity funds from meeting their investment goals, an exchange-traded fund manager said.

Talks on how to approach U.S. corporate tax reform are stirring to life again as Republican House majority leader Eric Cantor backed of push to give multinational companies a break on money imported to the U.S. from their subsidiaries owned in other countries.

The U.S. economy grew more quickly than previously thought in the fourth quarter, the government said on Friday, but signs of softer consumer and business spending may slow its momentum in early 2011.

The Treasury secretary has no plans to exempt certain types of foreign exchange options from heavy new regulations, sources familiar with the matter said, dashing hopes of financial players and corporations who use the products to hedge currency risks.

NASA's Stardust spacecraft performed one final rocket burn and said goodbye to the Comet Hunter.

Oil prices dipped slightly in choppy, thin trade on Friday as traders weighed concerns about Middle East unrest and Libya's conflict as well as demand for oil in quake-hit Japan and debt-laden Europe.

Russia's Rosneft vowed to push ahead with a strategic alliance with BP , despite a block on the deal by the British oil company's partners in joint venture TNK-BP .

NEW YORK, March 25 - The U.S. economy is on a firmer footing, and the U.S. central bank will have to reverse its easy money policy in the not-too-distant future to avoid sowing the seeds of inflation, a top Federal Reserve official said on Friday.

Thomas Hoenig, one of the most outspoken anti-inflation hawks among senior Federal Reserve officials, will step down from the Kansas City Fed October 1 as widely expected after he reaches mandatory retirement age, according to a bank statement on Friday.

Facebook is not behind the web search box that has appeared on the pages of some of its users, the company said.

The Federal Reserve should complete its current round of bond-buying, designed to support the recovery, and likely does not need to extend it, Chicago Fed President Charles Evans said on Friday.

Wall Street advanced for a third straight day on Friday as the tech sector rose on upbeat outlooks, though weak trading volume hinted the rally lacks enthusiasm.

The U.S. economy grew more quickly than previously thought in the fourth quarter, the government said on Friday, but signs of softer consumer and business spending may slow its momentum in early 2011.