IBT Staff Reporter

By Ellis Mnyandu

A crash in oil prices has confirmed the dominance of fossil fuels, OPEC ministers and other energy producers said on Thursday, but they also stated their commitment to fighting the pollution they generate.

European Union member states hit by the global economic crisis urged the bloc Thursday not to promise the developing world more money to combat climate change than they can afford.

Xerox Corp , the world's top supplier of digital printer and document management services, warned first-quarter earnings will fall far short of its earlier forecast as a slowdown in technology spending undercuts revenue.

Italy's Fiat SpA denied on Friday it would assume any current or future debt from Chrysler LLC , the troubled U.S. car maker with which it plans to form a partnership.

By Ellis Mnyandu

By Chris Baldwin

Citigroup Inc named Chief Financial Officer Gary Crittenden as chairman of troubled banking unit Citi Holdings on Friday, and elevated Edward Kelly to replace him as CFO.

Xerox Corp, the world's top supplier of digital printer and document management services, warned on Friday that first-quarter earnings will fall far short of its earlier expectations, as a slowdown in technology spending undercuts revenue.

Dutch navigation device maker TomTom said on Friday it had launched a court case against Microsoft Corp a few weeks after the American software giant launched a patent lawsuit against it in the United States.

Bank of America Corp was involved in accounting for fourth-quarter writedowns at Merrill Lynch & Co before it acquired the brokerage firm, the Financial Times reported on Thursday.

AMSTERDAM, March 20 - Dutch navigation device maker TomTom NV launched a court case against Microsoft Corp but declined on Friday to divulge any details on the matter.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Friday, extending losses from the previous session, as investors became concerned about the inflationary effects of the Federal Reserve's move to buy long-term Treasuries.

Sony Ericsson sparked fresh fear of crumbling consumer demand on Friday when the world's No 4 handset maker said it would sell barely half of the phones it sold last quarter.By Tarmo Virki, European technology correspondent

Robot fish developed by British scientists are to be released into the sea off north Spain to detect pollution.

By Chris Baldwin

By Carolyn Cohn

The U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) will use new authority to bar lending practices by mortgage brokers who have deceived borrowers, Bloomberg said, citing the FTC's chairman.

German industrial conglomerate ThyssenKrupp plans to cut more than 3,000 jobs or about 1.5 percent of its total staff amid a slump in demand, the Financial Times reported on Friday.

The board of Satyam Computer Services Ltd began a meeting on Friday as the deadline neared for suitors to submit their expressions of interest in acquiring a majority stake in the fraud-hit Indian outsourcer.

Stiefel Laboratories Inc, a privately held pharmaceutical maker, is considering selling itself in a deal that could be worth several billion dollars, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter. The potential sale has drawn interest from a number of major drug companies, including Johnson & Johnson , Novartis AG and GlaxoSmithKline PLC

The U.S. dollar edged higher on Friday but still headed for its biggest weekly fall in 24 years on investor fears that it will lose its status as the world's reserve currency, while oil prices ceded ground after a recent rally.

By Rafael Nam

By Fayen Wong

Venezuela will go ahead with the nationalization of the local unit of Spanish bank Grupo Santander, President Hugo Chavez said on Thursday, weeks after officials said the purchase was on hold.

The U.S. House of Representatives swiftly passed a bill on Thursday to recoup controversial bonuses paid to American International Group Inc as Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner tried to calm the furor by taking responsibility.

Top U.S. movie rental chain Blockbuster Inc beat Wall Street earnings estimates and said it had reached agreements with most creditors to restructure debt due in August.

Bank of America Corp was involved in accounting for fourth-quarter writedowns at Merrill Lynch & Co before it acquired the brokerage firm, the Financial Times reported on Thursday.

By Stuart Grudgings