The maker of hand-held computers has hired a top software designer to respond to the challenge posed by Apple?s new iPhone.

Metaweb Technologies is setting out to create a vast public database, paving the way for a more automated Internet.

Reuters - The world's richest are getting younger and richer with more Russians and Indians cropping up among the 946 people on Forbes magazine's 2007 billionaires list unveiled on Thursday.

Reuters - A second U.S. investment fund dismissed Citigroup's $10.8 billion buyout offer for Nikko Cordial Corp. on Friday, propelling the Japanese brokerage's shares further above Citigroup's offer price.

Reuters - Yahoo Inc. and AT&T Inc. are negotiating potentially sweeping changes that could scale back their partnership, a person familiar with the matter said, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Luxury car company Aston Martin is expected to be sold imminently, bringing it back into British ownership.

Despite record plane deliveries, Airbus posts a hefty loss for 2006, dragging down parent firm EADS.

Switzerland's biggest corporate trial , over the collapse of national carrier, Swissair winds up.

The government is to review the way the UK tax system treats firms involved in private equity deals.

Reuters - Losses at planemaker Airbus slashed 2006 operating profits at Franco-German parent EADS by 86 percent to 399 million euros ($526 million), but the fall was cushioned by defense profits, the group said on Friday.

Reuters - A Wal-Mart Stores Inc. employee fired this week for allegedly intercepting and recording messages from a New York Times reporter and others said he felt pressured to uncover who at the retail giant was leaking embarrassing information to outsiders, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Despite record plane deliveries, Airbus posts a hefty loss for 2006, dragging down parent firm EADS.

Internet phone company Vonage loses a patent case that could threaten its business.

Almost 1,000 people can now lay claim to being members of the world's billionaire club, says Forbes magazine.

Members of the T&G and Amicus unions vote to merge, creating the UK's largest union.

Reuters - South Korea and United States have picked up the pace of talks on a trade deal with an end-March deadline looming, aiming to strike an agreement both countries' legislatures will approve, the chief U.S. envoy said on Friday.

AP - During the 18 1/2 years Alan Greenspan was chairman of the Federal Reserve, he scrupulously avoided forecasting recessions. Now it seems he can't stop using the R word, and that has created headaches for his successor, Ben Bernanke.

AFP - A new law raising income taxes on foreign firms in China that takes effect on January 1 will be phased in over five years to cushion the blow, Chinese Finance Minister Jin Renqing said Friday.

AP - Announcing an alliance that would create Japan's biggest retail grouping, Aeon supermarket chain said Friday it will take a 15 percent stake in troubled Daiei for 46.2 billion yen ($393.5 million).

Internet phone company Vonage loses a patent case that could threaten its business.

US market regulators suspend trading in 35 firms that allegedly benefited from spam e-mail campaigns hyping up their stock.

China is creating an investment company to make better use of its $1 trillion foreign currency reserves.

A senior official from the US market regulator is reported to have compared London's AIM stock market to a casino.

Reuters - TSMC (2330.TW), the world's largest contract chip maker, said on Friday Philips plans to sell TSMC shares it owns to help it make an orderly exit from its current $8.5 billion stake in the Taiwan company.

Reuters - U.S. businesses likely took on a moderate amount of new hires in February even as the economy started showing some more signs of weakness, economists say.

AP - Announcing an alliance that would create Japan's biggest retail grouping, Aeon supermarket chain said Friday it will take a 15 percent stake in troubled Daiei for 46.2 billion yen, or $393.5 million.

Soaring US exports help to narrow the country's trade deficit, while unemployment falls slightly.

Internet phone company Vonage loses a patent case that could threaten its business.

China unveils a new law to increase protection of private property rights - the first to cover individual assets.

Corus shareholders overwhelmingly vote to accept a takeover offer from India's Tata Steel.

Reuters - The U.S. economy added a slightly weaker-than-expected 97,000 jobs in February, the smallest gain in more than two years, as increases in service-sector employment offset declines in construction and manufacturing, a government report showed on Friday.

The job market held up amid downbeat news about other parts of the economy.

Analysts say that the agency is set to begin life as one of the world?s biggest investment funds.

TV shows found to be cheating viewers could face criminal proceedings, the phoneline watchdog warns.

Newly-merged Alliance Boots confirms it has received a potential takeover approach from an unnamed bidder.

Reuters - New Century Financial Corp. shares plunged further on Friday after analysts said they expect the subprime lender to seek bankruptcy protection soon.

The U.S. economy added 97,000 jobs, 39,000 of which were in government. The trade deficit narrowed.

Shares in Volkswagen rise by 3% after the German car giant raises its earnings outlook for 2008.

Private equity group KKR is the group behind a potential takeover approach for Alliance Boots, the BBC learns.

Reuters - Yahoo Inc. and AT&T Inc. are negotiating potentially sweeping changes that could scale back their partnership, the Wall Street Journal reported, dragging Yahoo shares down 5.3 percent.

Reuters - Magna International (MGa.TO) Chairman Frank Stronach said it was too early to say whether the autoparts maker would bid for all of DaimlerChrysler AG's (DCXGn.DE) Chrysler unit but confirmed the two companies plan to meet, according to a newspaper report on Friday.

Reuters - Mergers and acquisitions have slowed during the volatility in global financial markets over the past two weeks, but investment bankers say the upheaval would have to last a long while to threaten the M&A boom.

AFP - A new law which increases income taxes on foreign firms in China will be phased in over five years to cushion the blow, Chinese Finance Minister Jin Renqing said Friday.

AFP - Japanese supermarket giant Aeon Co. said Friday that it had agreed to join forces with troubled rival Daiei to create Japan's largest retail group in a deal worth 62.7 billion yen (535 million dollars).

The White House hopes the deal will diminish the influence of Venezuela?s president, Hugo Chávez, who plans a rally against President Bush today.

EU leaders agree to adopt a binding renewable energy target, a day after backing cuts in carbon emissions.

Reuters - The economy added 97,000 jobs in February, the smallest gain in two years, but job growth in prior months was revised higher and the unemployment rate dropped, the government said on Friday in a report that eased fears over a sharp economic slowdown.

Reuters - An industrial crisis blamed for sweeping job cuts at Europe's Airbus slashed profits at parent EADS by 86 percent in 2006, sending its shares lower on Friday as it ruled out a quick recovery this year.

Reuters - Coca-Cola Co. Chairman and Chief Executive E. Neville Isdell received $7 million in salary and performance-based pay in 2006, nearly 17 percent more than he was paid a year earlier, the world's largest soft drink company said on Friday.

The White House hopes the deal will diminish the influence of Venezuela?s president, Hugo Chávez, who plans a rally against President Bush today.

The Jeep Liberty, Dodge Durango and Dodge Avenger are included in the recall. Chrysler cited the risk of overheating.

Reuters - The U.S. economy added 97,000 jobs in February, the smallest gain in two years, but job growth in prior months was revised higher and the unemployment rate dropped, the government said on Friday in a report that eased fears over a sharp economic slowdown.

Reuters - Yahoo Inc. and AT&T Inc. are negotiating potentially sweeping changes that could scale back their partnership, the Wall Street Journal reported, dragging Yahoo shares down 5.2 percent.

Reuters - Blue-chip stocks squeaked out a gain on Friday after a report on the U.S. job market reassured investors about the economy, but growing worries about a segment of the home lending business kept the broader market nearly unchanged.

US carmaker Chrysler is to recall almost half a million vehicles, its second recall in two weeks.

Three of the world's biggest spirit makers are interested in buying Absolut vodka, the Swedish government says.

US market regulators suspend trading in 35 firms that allegedly benefited from spam e-mail campaigns hyping up their stock.

Reuters - Countrywide Financial Corp. , the largest U.S. mortgage lender, on Friday told its brokers to stop offering borrowers the option of no-money-down home loans, according to a document obtained by Reuters.

Reuters - Adam Smith is revered by many as the father of modern economics, but even his biggest fans agree that writing was not his forte.

Reuters - Federal Reserve officials stressed on Friday the importance of keeping close watch on inflation expectations as a way to keep inflation in check and keep track of trends in the economy.

President Bush ended up competing for attention with President Hugo Chávez of Venezuela, who called the American visit an act of imperialism, adding, ?Gringo, go home!?

Reuters - New Century Financial Corp. shares fell 17.1 percent to an eight-year low on Friday after analysts said the largest independent U.S. subprime mortgage lender, which faces a criminal probe and has stopped making new loans, may soon seek bankruptcy protection.

The sheer scale of Google?s new shuttle program for its employees befits the company?s oversize ambitions.

It?s not easy to escape a two-year cellphone contract. But it can be done by turning to the innovators on the Internet.

Employers added 97,000 workers, and the jobless rate ticked down to 4.5 percent from 4.6 percent.

The most dynamic, future-oriented industries are having trouble finding qualified employees.

There are signs that some high-end real estate developers are being hit by a slowdown.

The crusade against ?naked short selling? by Patrick M. Byrne, the head of Overstock.com, may be in the midst of a meltdown.

Profit plunged 94 percent at EADS after its main unit, the aircraft maker Airbus, reported its worst year ever.

The two power plants would use advanced technology intended to capture carbon dioxide before it escapes into the atmosphere.

The Moscow office of PricewaterhouseCoopers was searched in connection with its work with Yukos and its own tax filings.

Kohlberg Kravis Roberts is teaming up with the Italian billionaire Stefano Pessina to make a takeover bid for Alliance Boots, Britain?s largest drugstore chain.

Harry Hurt III attempts a specially choreographed 15-second routine with a ballerina from the New York City Ballet.