IBT Staff Reporter

Spain plans a partial state takeover of its weakest savings banks as it seeks to reassure investors a rescue will not weigh on its deficit.

President Barack Obama will name General Electric Co. Chief Executive Jeffrey Immelt to head a new advisory panel focused on promoting economic growth by investing in business, the White House said on Friday.

Trapster, a site that warns iPhone, Blackberry and Android phone users of speed traps is now warning its 10 million or so users that their passwords and email addresses have been compromised.

Bank of America Corp, the largest U.S. bank by assets, reported a second straight quarterly loss, driven by writedowns in the value of its mortgage business.

Shares in Warner Music Group climbed over 20 percent in premarket trade on Friday.

Stocks rose on Friday after two days of declines as strong earnings General Electric and Google boosted investor optimism.

Real Madrid manager Jose Mourinho has fuelled speculation about his long term future at the club after refusing to commit his future beyond the end of the current season.

Verizon has fired the first salvo against net neutrality, appealing the Federal Communications Commission rules in the courts.

One out of every five cellphones sold in the world are illegal or unlicensed copycats, hurting the position of producers like Nokia in emerging markets, the world top manufacturer by volume said on Friday.

Hewlett-Packard Co is shaking up a board criticized by many as dysfunctional, bringing in five new directors including former eBay chief Meg Whitman, as new CEO Leo Apotheker remakes the company.

Duke research suggests offshoring is more a result of the shortage of adequately skilled domestic employees, rather than the economic motive to cut costs.

Internet search engine Google plans to launch Google Offers, its own version of online discount-coupon sensation Groupon, to help notify subscribers about deals in their area.

US President Barack Obama will run his re-election campaign based out of Chicago even as his close aide laid to rest media speculations about Obama seeking a re-election in 2012.

Wall Street was set for a higher open on Friday after two days of declines as strong earnings from General Electric and Google boosted investor optimism.

BMO Capital Markets upgraded two U.S.-based staffing companies, On Assignment Inc (ASGN) and Hudson Highland Group (HHGP) to 'Outperform' from 'Market Perform.'

Citing previous commitments to HBO he exited the movie

The companies that reported earnings before the markets open on Friday are: General Electric, Bank of America, Schlumberger, BB&T, Air Products and SunTrust Banks.

General Electric Co reported better-than-expected earnings, helped by the recovery of its finance arm and a rise in revenue at its industrial units, including a sharp pickup in sales of locomotives.

Stock index futures rose on Friday after two days of declines as strong earnings from General Electric and Google boosted investor optimism.

Venus William's time at the Australian Open was cut short after injury forced her to retire from her third round tie with Andrea Petkovic.

Special Forces from South Korea stormed a cargo ship taken over by pirates in the Arabian Sea and rescued the 21-member crew. The rescue attempt occurred a week after the cargo ship, Samho Jewelry, was hijacked by Somali pirates. The ship had eight South Koreans, two Indonesians and 11 people from Myanmar and was carrying chemicals from the UAE towards Sri Lanka.

Valdosta's wide-receiver/corner back, Malcom Mitchell committed himself to University of Gerogia, along with Valdosta team-mate Jay Rome. Alabama are now reportedly trying to secure the services of Enrique Florence and Tim Jernigan.

Apple's walled garden approach is not merely limited to its Ios or Apps Store but even extends to its hardware as it just fenced its iPhone, MacBook Air and MacBook Pro with new screw design, called Pentalobular, which cannot be opened using a standard screwdriver.

Google Inc co-founder Larry Page will take over as CEO from Eric Schmidt, a surprise move to make the company more nimble at a time when competition heats up with fast-growing rivals like Facebook.

British government plans to introduce new rules this April to cap visas for less skilled workers from non-European countries to cut the number of immigrants from outside Europe.

The American Opportunity Tax Credit is expected to benefit 9.4 million college students in the country in 2011

Warner Bros has finally roped in the hot-shot director to do a third remake of the original

Japan’s Sony Corp on Thursday said a streaming video service will become available in Japan on January 26 across Sony 2010 and 2011 network-enabled Bravia TVs.

Roger Federer strolled over his third-round Belgian opponent, Xavier Malisse, with a 6-3 6-3 6-1 victory in the Australian Open, while Novak Djokovic, Tomas Berdych were amongst the other seeded winners.