Controversial Japanese tycoon Takafumi Horie is found guilty of fraud at the Livedoor internet firm.

Talks are continuing in Beijing over a nuclear deal with North Korea, despite rifts over a Macau bank.

Reuters - U.S. subprime mortgage lender Accredited Home Lenders Holding Co. said it reached an agreement to sell $2.7 billion of loans at a substantial discount to alleviate pressures from margin calls.

Mystery surrounds an FBI raid on the North American headquarters of Japanese carrier All Nippon Airways.

China's parliament ends its annual two-week session by passing a law boosting private property rights.

China confirms plans to create an investment company for its $1 trillion foreign currency reserves.

Reuters - Nissan Motor Co. (7201.T) said on Friday that Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn would give up the duty of overseeing the Americas as the automaker heads for its first annual profit decline in seven years.

Reuters - A Wall Street fixed income strategist warned on Thursday that the greatest risk investors face is for the troubled U.S. subprime lending sector to trigger a spiral of falling home prices and mortgage defaults.

Reuters - Tribune Co. is re-evaluating the economics of its restructuring plan even as its interest in a late-breaking offer from real estate magnate Sam Zell dwindles, according to people familiar with the matter, The Wall Street Journal reported.

An international meeting of trade unions in Paris is expected to call for G8 action against private equity firms.

China's parliament ends its annual two-week session by passing a law boosting private property rights.

South Korea's Red Cross is to resume fertiliser shipments to the North, after a recently agreed nuclear deal.

Debenhams sales fall again but it is upbeat about its new spring and summer collections.

Chief Executive Carlos Ghosn will focus on leading Nissan and Renault, which he also runs, Nissan said today.

One of the firms hit by woes in the US sub-prime lending market strikes a deal to sell some of its loans.

Struggling Japanese carmaker Nissan says its chief executive will give up overseeing its US operation.

Reuters - U.S. drug maker Bristol-Myers Squibb is moving assets of up to $25 billion from an Irish holding company, it said on Friday, fanning worries in Ireland that it is growing less competitive.

Reuters - Women's apparel retailer AnnTaylor Stores Corp. said on Friday that quarterly net profit fell, hurt by unseasonably warm weather across much of the country and a fashion miss at its LOFT stores.

US consumer prices increase more than expected in February, as food and petrol prices grow, figures show.

A fresh wave of protests against job cuts planned at planemaker Airbus is taking place across Europe.

Popular photo-sharing site Flickr has announced plans to launch a Chinese language version.

China's parliament ends its annual two-week session by passing a law boosting private property rights.

Pay settlements stayed at an eight-year high in February, a survey finds, but were still below the Retail Prices Index.

Malaysia's telecoms regulator names four newcomers as winners of Wimax wireless high-speed internet licences.

China confirms plans to create an investment company for its $1 trillion foreign currency reserves.

Reuters - Caremark Rx Inc. shareholders on Friday approved a $24.3 billion takeover offer from drug-store chain CVS Corp. , effectively ending a months-long takeover fight with Express Scripts Inc. for the rival pharmacy benefits manager.

Reuters - U.S. core consumer prices rose modestly in February while production by the nation's factories, mines and utilities was unexpectedly strong, according to data on Friday that seemed to reduce chances of interest-rate cuts any time soon.

Reuters - Consumer sentiment slipped to its lowest in six months in March, as worries about declining stock prices and the health of the housing market shook consumer's confidence in the economy, a report showed on Friday.

Reuters - Private equity firm Blackstone Group is working with investment bank Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to launch an initial public offering of the firm, business news channel CNBC said on Friday.

Reuters - Women's apparel retailer AnnTaylor Stores Corp. posted better-than-expected quarterly profit on Friday and forecast earnings for the year above the average Wall Street estimate, sending its shares up as much as 7 percent.

A rebound in energy prices led to an increase in the consumer price index, suggesting that a weakening economy has not yet caused inflation to slow.

David Radler, a former close ally of Lord Conrad Black, agrees to pay $28.7m to the US authorities to settle fraud charges against him.

Wal-Mart has withdrawn its application for a US banking licence, according to reports in the US.

EU ministers agree in principle a price cap for using a mobile phone abroad in Europe of 50 cents (34p) a minute.

Reuters - Caremark Rx Inc. shareholders on Friday approved a roughly $24 billion takeover offer from drug-store chain CVS Corp. , bringing to an end a months-long takeover fight with Express Scripts Inc. for the rival pharmacy benefits manager.

Reuters - Wal-Mart Stores said on Friday it has withdrawn its request to open a specialty bank after immense opposition from politicians, consumer groups and community banks hampered its application with U.S. bank regulators.

Reuters - Concerns over the U.S. housing market eased on Friday as two large providers of high-risk home loans struck deals to remain solvent, but stories of lending gone bad kept cropping up, leaving investors nervous.

AP - China's prime minister tried to reassure the world about its financial goals Friday, saying a planned company to invest some of its $1 trillion in reserves won't affect dollar-denominated assets and promising to reform unruly Chinese stock markets.

US consumer prices increase more than expected in February, as food and petrol prices grow, figures show.

Wal-Mart withdraws its controversial application for a US banking licence, blaming 'manufactured controversy'.

EU ministers agree in principle a price cap for using a mobile phone abroad in Europe of 50 cents (34p) a minute.

EU regulators receive Spain's response to its complaints over conditions imposed on E.ON's bid for electricity firm Endesa.

Reuters - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has withdrawn a request to open a specialty bank after immense opposition from politicians, consumer groups and community banks hampered its application with U.S. bank regulators.

Reuters - Wal-Mart Stores Inc. said on Friday it has withdrawn its request to open a specialty bank after immense opposition from politicians, consumer groups and community banks hampered its application with U.S. bank regulators.

Reuters - Hedge fund portfolios seem to be suffering the most within the fund industry from turmoil in subprime lending, as most mutual fund investors have so far escaped big losses, industry analysts and investors said.

AP - Consumers paid more for energy, food and a host of other items in February as a sluggish economy failed to extinguish inflation pressures. But in a hopeful sign for growth, factory output posted a better-than-expected increase.

Campaign group WWF urges a boycott of Spanish winter strawberries which 'damage the environment'.

Reuters - Drug-store chain CVS Corp. won the battle to buy Caremark Rx Inc. on Friday, as the pharmacy benefit manager's shareholders approved the $24 billion deal, thwarting a higher bid from Caremark rival Express Scripts Inc.

AP - Consumers paid more for energy, food and a host of other items in February as a sluggish economy failed to extinguish inflation pressures. But in a hopeful sign for growth, factory output posted a better-than-expected increase.

AP - Stymied by a phalanx of opponents from big banks to unions and dogged by conflicting messages about its intentions, Wal-Mart withdrew a bid for a banking license Friday and said it would find other ways to serve customers' financial needs.

Reuters - An investigation by Walt Disney Co. found that Pixar Animation Studios had backdated some employee stock options before it was acquired by Disney, Chairman John Pepper said in a statement on Friday.

Thousands of families who bought houses using loans with low teaser interest rates and no down payments are now losing them.

Wal-Mart abruptly withdrew its application to obtain a special banking charter after a firestorm of criticism.

The Blackstone Group is preparing for an initial public offering that could value the firm at more than $30 billion.

Investor's Business Daily - The dollar sank to 3-month lows overnight vs. major currencies on concerns that the growing crisis in the U.S. subprime mortgage industry could spread and hit economic growth. The greenback pared losses on the stronger U.S. industry and inflation data, but still declined. The euro rose 0.74 cent to $1.3315. The dollar fell 0.83 yen to 116.74 yen.

Democrats fear that the rising number of homeowners who cannot repay their mortgages could cause broader economic problems.

The gas-powered shoe is a symbol of Russia?s deep scientific traditions and the country?s inability to convert that talent into useful merchandise.

The problem for both Google and Viacom is that copyright law is filled with compromises and ambiguity.

A debate grows about the percentage of income to set aside for a retirement that includes drinks with umbrellas.

A rebound in energy prices pushed inflation higher in February, suggesting that a weakening economy has not yet taken much pressure off rising prices.

Carlos Ghosn will give up North American operations and focus on the revamping under way at Nissan and Renault.

Another reading on inflation deflated hopes that the Federal Reserve would start moving toward an interest rate cut when it meets next week.

Socially responsible investing can mean pursuing psychic as well as financial rewards.

The former business partner of Conrad M. Black settled a case over funds that regulators say were fraudulently diverted from Hollinger International.

Disney concluded an internal investigation and cleared Steven P. Jobs of any misconduct in issuing backdated stock options at Pixar.

Emerging markets have avoided much greater falls than Western markets have had, a display of maturity that would have been unimaginable a decade ago.

Evidence suggests that retail spending has weakened, but not by nearly as much as it did in the most recent recession, in 2001.

Melissa Payner, the chief executive of Bluefly.com, spoke about the perils of Web retailing, and of what she called the misperceptions about her own company.

If you wanted to build an ad-supported online media business that took in $50 million a year, how many users would you have to attract to get there?

Barbara S. Peterson, Condé Nast Traveler?s aviation expert, worked for two months undercover as a screener.

Investors this week showed that while they are still ready to sell at a moment?s notice, they remain unpredictable.

Caremark shareholders approved a $26.5 billion acquisition by CVS, creating one of the largest competitors in the prescription drug industry.

Tobacco companies will be prohibited from marketing cigarettes overseas as ?low tar? and ?light,? a move applauded by antismoking activists.

The Fremont General Corporation said that Credit Suisse had increased a line of credit to the company to $1 billion.

A federal appellate panel ruled that the Union Pacific Railroad Company did not discriminate against its female employees because its insurance did not cover contraception used by men either.