IBT Staff Reporter

The Swedish government won approval from the European Commission on Friday to guarantee loans from the European Investment Bank for Ford Motor Co unit Volvo to help co-finance the development of green cars.

U.S. lawmakers on Thursday sought to increase incentives for nuclear power and energy efficiency in a measure that would require utilities to generate a certain amount of electricity from renewable sources.

Clean energy has strong guaranteed government backing in long-term subsidies but its future growth hinges on wider economic recovery and European targets are in doubt, senior energy executives told Reuters Energy Summit.

New investment in clean energy will total $95 to $115 billion in 2009, representing a drop of 26-39 percent from last year's total of $155 billion, data published by research group New Energy Finance showed on Friday.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Friday as investors awaited key monthly data on the labor market.

The Aussie dollar held firm in local trade yesterday despite a massive and unexpected turnaround in the countries trade balance.

Oil rose above $69 per barrel on Friday, within striking distance of a seven-month high, supported by a rally in stock markets and expectations that the global economic downturn might not be as severe as expected.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Friday as investors awaited key monthly data on the labor market.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corp is aiming at a shake-up of Citigroup Inc's top management, including replacing Chief Executive Vikram Pandit, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.

The Brazilian Air force confirmed Thursday night that the that the debris found in the Atlantic was not from that Air France jet that disappeared on Sunday with 228 people on board.

World stocks rose toward this week's 7-1/2 month high on Friday as resource stocks rallied after oil prices surged past $69 a barrel and optimism grew about an improving U.S. labor market ahead of key jobs data.

Dunkin' Donuts will mark National Donut Day by offering customers a free donut of their choice with the purchase of any beverage on Friday.

Microsoft Corp's chief software architect said on Thursday the profit margins on providing online services -- broadly known as cloud computing -- would likely yield a lower profit margin than the company's existing software business.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Friday, ahead of key monthly jobs data.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a higher open on Wall Street on Friday, ahead of key monthly jobs data.

Asian shares, oil and higher-yielding currencies rose on Friday as positive signals from the latest U.S. weekly job data sparked tentative optimism ahead of the crucial monthly employment report.

Asian shares, oil and higher-yielding currencies rose on Friday as hopes for a global economic recovery drove up appetite for riskier assets, but traders were cautious ahead of U.S. monthly job data.

Sales of disk storage systems -- which contain much of the world's digital information -- fell 18 percent in the first three months of this year, hit by deep cuts in technology spending, according to industry research firm IDC.

Dismissing strong objections from JPMorgan Chase and American Express Co executives, U.S. regulators insisted the banks raise equity this week before repaying bail-out funds, the Financial Times reported.

Whatever the outcome of Iran's June 12 presidential election, the Obama administration hopes Tehran will then end months of stalling and respond to Washington's overtures for better relations.

Brazilian search teams on Thursday scoured choppy Atlantic waters for remains of a crashed Air France jet after the first debris retrieved by helicopter turned out to be trash.

President Barack Obama sought to change Muslim perceptions of the United States on Thursday in a speech that urged Arabs and Israelis to declare in public the realities he said they accept in private.

A tiny fraction of those who use the fast-growing social network phenomenon Twitter generate nearly all the content, a Harvard study shows.

The United States has told South Korea it is preparing financial measures to punish North Korea for illicit weapons trade and counterfeit activities in the wake of its nuclear test last week, a newspaper report said on Friday.

Three Chinese dissidents who spent much of the past 20 years behind bars for marring Mao Zedong's portrait at Tiananmen Square said the students who led that movement have failed to continue the struggle.

Nintendo Co Ltd tried and rejected the motion-sensing technology that Sony Corp and Microsoft Corp are counting on to catch up in the video games wars, the company's president told the Financial Times.

Nintendo Co Ltd tried and rejected the motion-sensing technology that Sony Corp and Microsoft Corp are counting on to catch up in the video games wars, the company's president told the Financial Times.

Japan's Canon Inc, the world's largest digital camera maker, revived on Friday plans to build a $180 million factory as demand holds firm for its high-end single-lens reflex cameras, lifting its shares 1.6 percent.

TheWB.com is teaming with former Beverly Hills, 90210 star Jason Priestley for The Lake, a new online series.