IBT Staff Reporter

Former President George W. Bush on Friday canceled a scheduled appearance at a business leaders' conference in Denver after learning that organizers also invited WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange.

Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo -- three of the biggest banks in the United States -- said they could face fines from a regulatory probe into the industry's foreclosure practices.

Game fans hit Japanese stores early on Saturday to be among the first to get their hands on Nintendo's new 3D-capable game player, but the gadget's sales may be squeezed in the longer term by competition from smartphones and tablets.

Wells Fargo & Co , the largest U.S. mortgage lender, said it is likely to face fines from regulators and other government agencies as a result of a probe into the industry's foreclosure practices.

The Federal Reserve would react to higher oil prices only if the increases spilled over into broader areas, officials of the U.S. central bank said on Friday, with one policy maker calling the risks manageable.

Icelanders will vote on April 9 on a plan to repay around $5 billion to Britain and the Netherlands to cover debts from the financial crisis, with popular backing key to keeping an economic recovery on track.

A derailment on the Richards Bay coal line near Ermelo on Thursday is unlikely to result in large tonnage lost, rail and exporter sources said.

Rwanda has put plans of awarding a fourth mobile phone operator's licence on the ice until subscriber growth and market share distribution stabilises, the industry regulator said on Friday.

The Development Bank of Seychelles (DBS) will issue a five-year bond worth 50 million rupees with a 6 percent coupon, central bank said on Friday.

Kenyan cement maker Bamburi recorded on Friday a 21 percent drop in annual pretax profit to 7.56 billion shillings as competition increased.

Namibia paid commodities trader Glencore N$448 million in outstanding fees after the government cancelled an oil supply contract, the Southern Times reported on Friday.

Google Inc made substantial changes to its search engine in a direct attack on companies that churn out low-quality stories and videos.

South African petrol pump prices in the main inland commercial region will increase by 43 cents a litre, or 4.8 percent, from March 2, the government said on Friday.

Long-term South African bonds rose on Friday after a four-day sell-off fuelled by the government's disappointing budget deficit forecast for next fiscal year.

Mozambique will solicit bids for oil and gas exploration from international firms within the next two years, a senior government official said on Friday.

The FCC is investigating the possibility that service blackouts were to blame for unanswered 911 calls.

BP said on Friday it would shut its Plutonio oilfield in Angola for maintenance work in April and expected the stream to return to production in May.

The final legal obstacle was removed to Starbucks Corp ending its coffee distribution agreement on March 1 with Kraft Foods Inc by a U.S. appeals court ruling on Friday.

Verizon Wireless sold more iPhones online than in stores, its top executive told Reuters, disputing a concern that the sparse crowds that greeted the launch of the Apple Inc device signaled low sales.

Scientists at the Smithsonian Institute are using candid cameras to catch wildlife in their natural habitats.

Chrysler Group LLC, the automaker managed by Fiat SpA , plans to file reports with the U.S. regulators divulging updates of its business and financial condition, the company said on Friday.

Ford Motor Co is reshaping its relationship with suppliers, allowing more coordination from design to production, as it focuses on global platforms and shared parts, a top Ford executive said this week.

Holllywood's biggest night is a couple of days away and the anticipation for who will walk home with an Oscar is increasing. A number of amazing actors, actresses and movies are nominated for the big categories of the night. Here are the predictions of who will win an Oscar for the main categories of the Academy Awards.

NEW YORK, Feb 25 - A U.S. securities regulation enacted last year to combat credit ratings shopping and encourage open and transparent flow of issuers' collateral information to all rating agencies is having the opposite effect, according to securitization specialists.

The uphill climb for consumer goods makers to improve sales and profits is getting more slippery, as higher oil prices add to costs and also cut into budgets people have for shopping.

Higher oil prices should have a limited impact on the world economy if prices stay at current levels, the International Monetary Fund said on Friday.

LOS ANGELES - Eliminated American Idol hopeful Chris Medina's inspirational story prompted super-producer Rodney Jerkins to put pen to paper. The result: a just recorded single, What Are Words, and an accompanying video premiering on Friday at 2 p.m. EST on aol.com.

Canada will outpace the United States and Mexico in first-quarter automobile production growth, which will add roughly 1.5 percentage points to the country's economic growth, according to a report released by Bank of Nova Scotia.

Daily-deals website Groupon chalked up an eye-popping twenty-fold surge in 2010 revenue and hopes to get to billions of dollars this year, the Wall Street Journal cited an internal memo from its CEO as saying.