IBT Staff Reporter

Pressure mounted on Thursday on New York state Governor David Paterson to quit after another aide resigned in an expanding political scandal -- and even his most ardent backers offered only tepid support.

A man shot and wounded two security officers at an entrance to the Pentagon near a busy commuter rail station on Thursday before being fatally wounded in a shootout, officials and media reports said.

The Greek government faces stiff opposition to some austerity measures announced this week, an opinion poll showed, but most expect them to be implemented and there was no sign the government's ratings have suffered yet.

China will seek to heal social rifts and spur home-driven growth with more public welfare and rural spending even as the government tightens its belt after a burst of feverish spending, Premier Wen Jiabao said on Friday.

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou will Friday seek support from German Chancellor Angela Merkel, leader of the euro zone's biggest economy, in his struggle to tackle his country's debt crisis.

Germany and the chairman of the group of countries using the euro ruled out immediate financial aid for Greece before talks on Friday with Prime Minister George Papandreou.

World stocks pushed higher on Friday after better-than-forecast U.S. retail sales suggested the world's biggest economy was stabilizing while the dollar held broadly steady ahead of U.S. jobs data.

Microsoft said it will stick to its development strategy for the China Internet search market regardless of the outcome of Google's high-profile spat with Beijing.

Icelanders are set to reject the terms for repaying Anglo-Dutch debts in a referendum on Saturday, forcing new negotiations with creditors and delaying financial aid the country needs to fix its shattered economy.

Asian shares surged on Friday after encouraging U.S. retail sales and jobs data suggested Asia's biggest export market was stabilizing, while the euro remained on the defensive amid the Greece debt crisis.

Toyota Motor Corp said a partial review of complaints of unintended acceleration after vehicles were repaired for accelerator pedal problems, had found no evidence of failure in the electronic throttle system or in the repairs.

Toyota Motor Corp said a partial review of complaints of unintended acceleration after vehicles were repaired for accelerator pedal problems, had found no evidence of failure in the electronic throttle system and or the repairs.

The number of people working in the United States likely fell in February as winter storms that pounded parts of the country kept some workers at home but a swift recovery is expected in March.

Militant groups, foreign states and criminal organizations pose a growing threat to U.S. security as they target government and private computer networks, FBI Director Robert Mueller said on Thursday.

U.S. regulators said they were reviewing more than 60 complaints that fixes made on recalled Toyota Motor Corp vehicles.

NASA on Thursday launched the latest in its family of meteorological satellites, adding to a number of spacecraft that watch storm development and weather conditions on Earth.

Crude edged up on Friday, capping two consecutive weeks of trading above $80, after China signaled it would maintain its economic stimulus, rekindling hopes for accelerating growth to drain excess oil supplies.

The elections in Iraq on March 7, 2010, are likely to serve as an important indicator of the prospects for a resolution of the long-running dispute over the administration of the ethnically mixed and resource-rich province of Kirkuk in the north of the country. The Iraqi Kurds have repeatedly called for Kirkuk to be transferred to the control of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), which already administers three provinces in the predominantly Kurdish north of Iraq. The other...

A second senior Federal Reserve official on Thursday joined the ranks of those doubting whether the Fed should continue to commit to hold rates exceptionally low for an extended period, a sign pressures are building to drop the wording.

The House of Representatives on Thursday narrowly passed a $15 billion jobs bill that will provide tax breaks and provide bonds to fund construction projects.

China is in consultations with technology giant Google to resolve its dispute with the company, which has threatened to abandon the Chinese market over hacking and censorship concerns, said a Chinese official on Friday.

U.S. retailers posted their best monthly sales performance since just before the recession started in 2007, as lean inventories meant they did not need to resort to steep discounts.

The Obama administration has opposed a vote of a resolution that would recognize the 1915 mass killing of Armenians as genocide, contradicting a promise President Barack Obama made while campaigning in the Democratic primaries.

The number of U.S. workers filing for jobless benefits fell last week, but a surprise drop in pending home sales to a 10-month low in January underscored the uneven nature of the economic recovery.

Microsoft Corp is aiming to launch two phones that will be sold by top U.S. mobile operator Verizon Wireless in late spring or early summer, a person briefed on the matter said on Thursday.

Two AIG units settled federal charges that they discriminated against black home buyers on fees for mortgages and will pay $7.1 million for restitution and education efforts, the U.S. Justice Department said on Thursday.

Insurance-like guarantees that American International Group wrote on more than $100 billion in assets held by European banks could remain on the insurer's books longer than anticipated, according to a regulatory filing.

A tax question holding up American International Group Inc's sale of its foreign life insurance unit to MetLife Inc is expected to be resolved favorably, clearing the way for a roughly $15 billion deal, sources familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

Stocks rose on Thursday as better-than-expected monthly sales from retailers and a drop in the number of Americans filing claims for jobless benefits pointed to stabilization in the economy.