IBT Staff Reporter

Health insurer Aetna Inc forecast 2011 earnings at least 13 percent above Wall Street's target on Friday and dramatically increased its dividend to the highest in the industry, sending its shares up more than 10 percent.

Germany and France tried to win backing for a pact to strengthen the euro zone economy on Friday, but many other EU states were angered by what they saw as a 'fait accompli' and the measures contained in it.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HIS) seized several websites that were illegally streaming sporting events over the Internet.

The owners of the New York Mets were accused of reaping $300 million of fictitious profits from Bernard Madoff's record Ponzi scheme, a lawsuit by the trustee seeking money for Madoff's victims said.

No. 2 U.S. homebuilder PulteGroup Inc's quarterly pretax loss narrowed and said its underlying business is operating at about a break-even level.

The owners of the New York Mets were accused of reaping $300 million of fictitious profits from Bernard Madoff's record Ponzi scheme, a lawsuit by the trustee seeking money for Madoff's victims said.

Stocks were headed for their best week in nine on Friday as the market defied calls for a pullback despite signs of rotation into defensive and lagging sectors that could intensify in coming weeks.

Britain, worried about a growing threat from cyber espionage and cyber crime, offered Friday to host an international conference to tackle such issues.

Employment rose by a meager 36,000 jobs in January, far less than expected, as severe snow storms slammed large parts of the nation, but the unemployment rate fell to its lowest level since April 2009.

If people on Earth want to talk to aliens, we may have to change our tune - or at least the way we broadcast it. And we may need a crowd to help figure out what to do.

EU member states failed to relax a travel ban on Iran's foreign minister in time for him to attend this weekend's Munich security conference, but plan further discussion on whether to let him visit the bloc in future, an EU official said Friday.

Australia's cruel summer of cyclones and floods could generate a new, devastating political storm for Prime Minister Julia Gillard, who now must buck hostile public opinion to find a way to pay for the clean-up.

Thai and Cambodian soldiers exchanged fire in a two-hour border clash on Friday that killed two Cambodian soldiers and a Thai villager, the latest in an ancient feud over land surrounding a 900-year-old Hindu temple.

Algerian opposition groups said on Friday they would probably go ahead with a planned protest march next week despite promises from the president to heed some of their demands and allow more political freedoms.

Dow and S&P 500 are down slightly today, as investors struggled to interperet the January jobs report from the U.S. Dept. of Labor

Zimbabwe has licensed five independent power producers whose projects are aimed at helping a struggling power sector by doubling current electricity output to 4,450 megawatts, a government minister said on Friday.

China has offered Zimbabwe $3 billion for vast platinum reserves, a local private newspaper reported on Friday but said the deal was likely to be rejected by the government over its terms.

Construction of a railway line connecting Botswana's Mmamabula coal field with the Namibian port of Walvis Bay, pegged at up to $9 billion, is expected to start in 18 months, a government official said on Friday.

Proposed changes to revenue sharing within the Southern African Customs Union (SACU) are unacceptable because they place an unfair burden on its poorer members, a senior Namibian official said on Friday.

Irish oil and gas explorer Aminex Plc said on Friday it would increase its stake in a natural gas-bearing exploration block in Tanzania through an agreement with Australia's Key Petroleum.

Now that all the hype and the hoopla of Chinese President Hu Jintao’s visit to the United States are over, the same basic commercial question remains unanswered: How can American companies create more jobs for Americans by selling more American goods and services in China?

Tighter budgets at the Securities and Exchange Commission could mean killing vital technology upgrades needed to catch swindlers, the agency's chief said on Friday in a blunt appeal for more funding.

South African coal producers on Friday dismissed utility Eskom's criticism of coal quality and the power company's claims that suppliers were favouring exports over deliveries to its electricity generating plants.

South Africa's rand weakened to a near six-month low against the dollar on Friday, falling through key support and dragging local bonds down with it before recouping some losses as demand for longer dated paper picked up.

A war of words between Uganda's main presidential candidates escalated on Friday, sparking fears of Egypt-style street violence should the opposition say the poll was rigged.

Algerian opposition groups said on Friday they would probably go ahead with a planned protest march next week despite promises from the president to heed some of their demands and allow more political freedoms.

Egypt has suffered huge economic losses during political protests that broke out 10 days ago but the government is committed to meeting its financial obligations, finance minister Samir Radwan said on Friday.

Hundreds of thousands of Egyptians marched peacefully in Cairo on Friday to demand an immediate end to President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule, but there was no sign of his generals, or his U.S. allies, squeezing him out just yet.

Verizon Wireless ended online sales of Apple Inc's iPhone on Thursday evening after what it said was the most successful first day sales in the history of the company.