TOKYO (AP) ? Toyota said Thursday about 270,000 vehicles sold worldwide, including Lexus sedans, have faulty engines, but the company did not say whether it would recall the automobiles.

The compromise tax on mining profits ends a bitter stalemate that has deeply unsettled the governing Labor Party in the run up to elections later this year.

With an overall decline of 5 percent, it was the first week without a gain since the depths of the financial crisis.

An effort to help homeowners pay for energy improvements is unlikely to go forward because of the liens involved.

Democrats hope voters will punish Republicans in the midterm elections for blocking extended unemployment benefits; Republicans believe the public is more concerned about deficits.

AP - Asian stock markets were mixed Tuesday on growing worries the global economic recovery is running out of momentum.

Twitter is adding a new revenue model, e-commerce, with a service called @earlybird Exclusive Offers.

Investors grew more optimistic about the prospects of recovery in the world's largest economy.

NTP charges that the cellphone e-mail systems of the companies are illegally using its patented technology.

The gains add pressure on the government to let the nation?s currency appreciate.

AP - An Air France passenger jet headed from Rio to Paris made an emergency landing in northeastern Brazil on Saturday night due to a bomb threat.

The company is offering a free software tool to make it easier for people to write applications for Android smartphones.

The drug giant SmithKline Beecham found in a study as early as 1999 that its diabetes medicine, Avandia, posed risks to the heart, but it never made the information public.

Philip Morris International, faced with a Human Rights Watch report that found child labor on farms that supply its cigarette factory in Kazakhstan, vowed changes.

The blistering pace of growth slowed as the government strove to calm inflation and rein in the property market.

Many UK households with pre-payment meters have chosen to go without energy in the past year, a consumer group says.

The Christian Science Monitor - As President Obama prepares to sign the second historic reform bill of his administration – health care in March, finance reform next week – Republicans are offering their own answers to why jobs have not recovered and enlisting business groups to help make their case.

Officials extended a test of BP?s blown-out well for an additional 24 hours, after two days of testing showed no signs of damage in the 13,000-foot-deep hole in the Gulf of Mexico.

BP said that it hoped to leave its well in the Gulf of Mexico closed down until it is permanently plugged, but federal officials warned of a potential seep on the sea floor near the well.

American multinational corporations use offshore havens to avoid $37 billion in federal taxes each year, a coalition of small business groups contends.

Asian stock markets posted mild gains Wednesday after better-than-expected earnings from Apple nudged Wall Street higher.

But eBay warned that the negative effect of a stronger dollar would hurt full-year results, and it trimmed the high end of its 2010 forecast.

Airport workers are due to be balloted in a dispute which could cause serious disruption to travellers over the busy August period.

Official had been overseeing efforts to monitor and stabilize A.I.G.

Reuters - Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) is likely to have secured a group operating profit of about 100 billion yen ($1.1 billion) in April-June, thanks to solid sales and a sharp recovery from the previous year's loss, the Nikkei business daily said on Sunday.

Dozens of bioengineering laboratories are trying to create superalgae that can be used to make diesel or jet fuel.

The Swiss bank's earnings were helped by stronger revenues from investment banking.

Disney will initially pay $563.2 million for Playdom and will make $200 million in additional payments if Playdom achieves unannounced growth goals.

The Independent Budget Review panel is poised to release its report on options for prioritising public spending in Scotland.

Asian markets fell, overlooking strong earnings from some of the region?s biggest companies as Japanese shares tumbled on dour economic figures and a strong yen.

Investors were particularly fretful about the G.D.P. report because it comes at the end of a run of worse than expected economic data and a warning from the Fed.