IBT Staff Reporter

The U.S. state of Mississippi settled an antitrust suit with Microsoft Corp for $100 million on Thursday and said businesses, individuals, schools and local government were eligible for a share of the money.

Oil prices fell toward $72 a barrel on Friday, as investors locked in gains from a near eight-month high settlement a day ago, but stronger-than-expected China factory output and retail sales data lent support.

BlackRock Inc. , the giant U.S. money manager, said on Thursday that it will buy Barclays Global Investors in a cash and share deal that will turn it into the world's biggest asset manager.

Antivirus companies Symantec and McAfee have agreed to pay fines of US$375,000 to settle charges that they automatically charged customers software subscription renewal fees without their permission.

North Korea may be preparing for its third nuclear test as the United Nations considers new sanctions on the regime, according to a U.S. government official.

Microsoft has confirmed the news about the report that Windows 7 will debut in European countries without its Internet Explorer 8 web browser, causing a stir of questions and uproar from prospective buyers.

BlackRock Inc. , the giant U.S. money manager, said on Thursday it will buy Barclays Global Investors for $13.5 billion in a deal that will make it the world's biggest asset manager.

The Pentagon's Missile Defense Agency has formally ended Northrop Grumman Corp's Kinetic Energy Interceptor program, once valued at $6.3 billion, despite the company's push to carry out what would have been a key test in September of the missile-defense technology.

It's been 25 years since the Ghostbusters first saved Manhattan from the giant Stay Puft Marshmallow Man. Now, they're back in virtual form and talking about a third movie.

Sony Electronics introduces its new industrial XCG series, with four series cameras in different ultra-high resolution, and frame rates to match a variety of machine vision and security applications with extreme low-light conditions.

AIG, days before a high-profile legal fight with a company controlled by former CEO Maurice Greenberg heads to court, promised to use any funds won at trial to repay U.S. taxpayers.

The U.S. Senate passed legislation that would allow the the Food and Drug Administration to regulate the sale and distribution of tobacco products and prohibit misleading tobacco ads.

IBM may be approaching a breakthrough in battery technologies the auto industry is looking forward to.

The U.S. government spent $287 million to purchase a total 17,205 fuel efficient vehicles from Ford, Chrysler and General Motors as of June 1 and aims to order $15 million more worth of advanced technology buses and electric vehicles, the General Services Administration said this week.

U.S. intelligence Chief Leon Panetta said on Thursday he believes that al Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden is still hiding in Pakistan and the CIA hopes to find him through joint operations with Pakistani forces.

Yahoo Inc on Thursday named Altera Corp's chief financial officer as its finance chief, the latest move by the Internet company to rebuild itself in the image of its new chief executive.

U.S. lawmakers accused the Treasury and Federal Reserve on Thursday of using threats to force Bank of America to take over Merrill Lynch while criticizing Bank of America boss Ken Lewis for keeping shareholders in the dark about rising losses at Merrill.

Microsoft is planning to reveal its new antivirus with a code ‘Morro’ serving Windows end-user for free.

Ford Motor Co Chief Executive Alan Mulally said on Thursday that the U.S. economy was on the right track to begin improving in the second half of the year.

Two Japanese citizens carrying $134 billion worth of U.S. bonds were detained last week by Italy's financial police at Chiasso (40km from Milan) on the border between Italy and Switzerland, an Italian daily said Wednesday.

Dear Sam: I am getting very discouraged as my résumé is not generating responses. I have sent out close to 800 applications in the past 2 months and not one has resulted in an interview, only countless letters that my information was received, would be reviewed, and I would be contacted if I was a good fit.

The World Health Organization (WHO) declared influenza pandemic on Thursday and called on flu vaccine manufacturers to make enough shots to protect people against flu pandemic.

Microsoft has responded to the EU's antitrust investigation into its bundling of its browser with Windows by saying it will ship Windows 7 in Europe without Internet Explorer 8 installed.

NRG Energy and eSolar will build a 92-megawatt solar thermal power plant in New Mexico, part of an effort to place 500 MW of solar power in California and the U.S. Southwest, the companies announced on Thursday.

The U.S. Federal Reserve’s borrowings balance has decreased as banks borrow less from the central bank, signs suggesting the economy is easing.

Two major U.S. airlines, Delta Air Lines Inc and American Airlines , will slash capacity this year as the recession erodes travel demand, the carriers said on Thursday.

Countering pressure from European regulators, Microsoft Corp plans to ship the newest version of its Windows operating system in Europe without its Internet Explorer web browser.

(Corrects figure in third to last paragraph to 29,000 from 20,000)

A political coup in New York's statehouse can be traced back to an incident in which a top lawmaker so enraged a wealthy backer by peering at e-mails on his BlackBerry that his patron engineered his ouster.