IBT Staff Reporter

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid urged Chinese President Hu Jintao to address his country's huge trade imbalance with the United States through a significant revaluation of China's currency.

President Barack Obama complained about fat-cat bankers and sharply criticized Wall Street banks for paying out big bonuses to executives in a television interview to air on Sunday.

Former prime minister Tony Blair believes it was right to oust Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein from power even though no weapons of mass destruction were ever found.

Craigslist's chief executive said on Friday he was so alarmed by a condescending attempt by his counterpart at eBay to reassure him about their relations that he started maneuvering to remove the online auctioneer from his board of directors.

The U.S. pay czar on Friday expanded a crackdown on pay packages at four companies rescued with taxpayer money, limiting most cash salaries at $500,000 for a second tier of top earners.

U.S. securities regulators are looking at what Bank of America disclosed to shareholders as it was acquiring Merrill Lynch, including the investment bank's mounting fourth-quarter losses that eventually topped $15 billion.

The Princess and the Frog, the latest animated movie from Walt Disney which features the studio's first black princess, Tiana, hits theaters today.

German power plant capacity reported by 26 utility companies to energy exchange EEX is likely to rise by 0.9 percent to 69,543 megawatts in the seven days to Dec. 18, data from EEX showed on Friday.

The leadership of the United Auto Workers is set to meet next week to name Bob King as the preferred candidate to succeed retiring President Ron Gettlelfinger, two people with knowledge of the plan said.

Two senior Citigroup executives told a group of investors the bank will only pay back government funds this month if it is comfortable with regulators' demands and market conditions, two people at the meeting said.

The House of Representatives approved the biggest changes in financial regulation since the Great Depression on Friday, marking a win for the Obama administration and top Democrats in Congress.

Verizon Communications Ivan Seidenberg, 63, definitely falls into that category as evidenced by his request that the Wall Street Journal's Joann Lublin keep his reply off the record when she asked him about succession at a conference on Friday.

U.S. securities regulators are looking at what Bank of America (BAC.N) disclosed to shareholders as it was acquiring Merrill Lynch, including the investment bank's mounting fourth-quarter losses that eventually topped $15 billion.

Business Split on Climate Change; More Financial Fraud; Autoworkers Get New Chief

Angelina Jolie and her partner Brad Pitt were very affectionate to each other hugging and caressing at the UNICEF Ball in Beverly Hills, California on Thursday.

Microsoft Windows 7 sales are expected to rise in 2010, along with the demand for new hardware like PCs and servers, according to a Goldman Sach's IT spending survey forecast.

Airbus parent EADS is sticking to plans to boycott a potential $50 billion competition to build a U.S. Air Force refueling fleet absent major changes in the way the winner would be picked.

A jailed New York hedge fund manager whose fraud was revealed in the wake of the Madoff scandal, admitted in court on Friday to fabricating client account statements and overstating asset values by hundreds of millions of dollars.

Option investors who buy and sell puts and calls for a fraction of the price of actual shares in blue chip companies like McDonald's Corp and Caterpillar Inc will soon get a chance to do the same with Berkshire Hathaway Inc .

The Dow and S&P 500 closed up for a third straight session on Friday after several solid consumer-related reports reinforced investors' confidence in a steady recovery by the economy.

Consumers stepped up their spending in November and grew more optimistic this month, unexpectedly strong data showed on Friday, raising hopes a self-sustaining economic recovery was starting to unfold.

The Dow and S&P 500 closed up for a third straight session on Friday after several solid consumer-related reports reinforced investors' confidence in a steady recovery by the economy.

Two more U.S. Senators jumped into the climate bill debate on Friday, offering a proposal that would cap planet-warming emissions but reduce the role of Wall Street in carbon markets.

France's EDF (EDF.PA) could take up to 20 percent in the underwater section of the South Stream gas pipeline bringing Russian gas to Europe and there could be other partners, one of the project leaders said.

Shares of Sunesis Pharmaceuticals Inc (SNSS.O) were up for the second day on Friday, after positive data from two clinical trials of its experimental cancer drug, Voreloxin, boosted investor confidence.

Michael Arrington of TechCrunch has filed a federal lawsuit against Fusion Garage over the former CrunchPad tablet, which is now currently called the Joo Joo tablet.

Michael Jackson will be awarded with a Lifetime Achievement Grammy Award on January 30, the Recording Academy said in a statement Thursday.

The new restrictions covering the most of the 26 to 100 most highly compensated employees at bailed out firms AIG, Citigroup, GM and GMAC were issued today by President Obama's Pay Czar Stephen Feinberg.

Verizon Communications Inc has no need to buy DIRECTV , the company's Chief Executive said on Friday in response to a question about recent speculation the Verizon might buy the satellite TV provider.