IBT Staff Reporter

Stocks rose on Friday, breaking a three-day losing streak, as investors sought to benefit from a fall in the dollar by buying shares of multinationals and commodity companies.

Countries should be ready for more serious H1N1 flu infections and more deaths from the newly discovered virus, World Health Organization chief Margaret Chan said on Friday.

Gulfstream International Airlines faces penalty on violation of overworking its crew, unapproved air conditioner installation and improperly maintained vent blowers on the fleet of 27 BE-1900-D aircraft.

Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Wednesday defended cuts to U.S. missile defense programs, saying Washington would still invest in boosting defenses against long-range missile threats, like those posed by North Korea and Iran.

Florida-based BankUnited, which was closed by the U.S. government and sold to investors, was conducting business as usual on Friday and there was no sign of panic among customers, its new chief executive said.

Middle East’s fastest growing Airlines Emirates on Thursday said its year-on-year net profit ended March 31,3009 fell 72 percent hit by slump demand on rising oil prices and low demand in travel industry in the current economic downturn.

The two-days Europe-Asia meeting will be held in Vietnam from next Monday with a topic of discussing the global financial crisis, but Myanmar issues on trial Suu Kyi may steal the headlines.

Although she is a fan of her elder brother, Dinara Safina did not become the world number one by taking every single piece of advice from Marat.

China will ban smoking in all hospitals and medical facilities from 2011, the Health Ministry said on Friday, as the world's most populous nation struggles to get its people to kick one of their favorite habits.

Stocks advanced on Friday on hopes that a weaker dollar would increase multinationals' profitability while Moody's reassuring comments eased some concerns about the U.S. credit rating.

Cigarette companies systematically lied for years in order to sell tobacco products they knew were dangerous, a U.S. appeals court said on Friday as it upheld a trial judge's racketeering verdict.

The U.S. government said on Friday it is setting aside $1 billion to help companies develop a vaccine against the new strain of H1N1 influenza that is sweeping the world.

Revenues of India's Satyam Computer Services are in a downward slope, but the fraud-hit outsourcer was not looking at layoffs to tide over the slowdown, its chairman said on Friday. The company discussed cost control measures, including wage cuts, at its board meeting, Kiran Karnik told reporters after the meeting.

The costs of exploring for, developing and acquiring oil and gas reserves in Canada could drop by as much as 35 percent this year with drilling activity dwindling as companies cut spending, brokerage FirstEnergy Capital Corp predicted on Friday.

Google has upgraded its Chrome browser to version 2.0 that is 30% faster when loading JavaScript-heavy web pages, but has only included a few new updates.

The House Energy and Commerce Committee passed a climate bill on Thursday that aims to tackle greenhouse gas emissions in the United States to stave off global warming and shift the nation to clean energy technologies.

A U.S. appeals court has largely upheld a lower court ruling that cigarette companies, including Altria Group Inc and its Philip Morris USA unit, violated federal racketeering laws by conspiring to lie about the dangers of smoking.

Cheap valuations and glimmers of economic recovery are tempting cash-rich technology companies to seek acquisitions, and the second half of 2009 could see some steady dealmaking.

General Motors Corp's biggest bondholders plan to reject the company's current offer for a 10 percent equity stake, a spokesman for the creditors said on Friday.

A U.S. 25-city home price index is stabilizing this year after plunging through most of 2008, and home prices in some cities actually rose in March, according to Radar Logic, a real estate data and analytics company.

Two Rome high schools have been ordered closed for a week after four students caught the H1N1 flu virus on a school trip to New York, Italy's Health Ministry said on Friday.

The value of good farmland in several U.S. Midwestern states fell by a

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon will call on Sri Lanka on Saturday to allow full access to nearly 300,000 refugees who fled during the final months of the war against Tamil Tiger rebels, U.N. officials said.

Japan relaxed rules for dealing with the new H1N1 flu Friday, concerned that strict regulations could harm the economy and needlessly restrict the public, given that most of its nearly 300 cases have been mild.

Small, nimble retailers are taking advantage of the recession and larger rivals' woes as they move into abandoned U.S. store fronts with short-term leases negotiated at a discount.

Stocks rose on Friday as investors snapped up shares of multinational companies, including McDonald's Corp, on hopes that a weaker dollar would underpin profitability.

Somali government forces attacked rebel strongholds in Mogadishu on Friday, triggering battles across the capital that killed at least 15 people.

European foreign ministers will press Myanmar at an Asia-Europe meeting next week to end the trial of opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, but analysts expect only lukewarm backing from their Asian counterparts.

North Korea is warning ships to stay away from waters off an east coast missile base, a Japan Coast Guard spokesman said on Friday, suggesting it could be preparing for a short-range missile test.