Rio Tinto says it has signed a deal with China to develop a massive iron ore project in Guinea.

AP - China stepped up resistance Friday to U.S. pressure over currency, calling on Washington to cool its 'politicization and emotionalization' of the issue and warning a further rise in its yuan could drive exporters out of business.

AP - Samsung Electronics predicted a strong 2010 as economic expansion in advanced and large developing economies gains speed and said it is aiming for double-digit sales growth from last year's record high.

AP - Oil prices drifted below $82 a barrel Friday in Asia, pulling back from a monthlong rally that was fueled by mostly positive news about the U.S. economy.

AP - Japanese police are recommending charges against a driver who says his Toyota Prius crashed because of brake failure after an analysis of 'black box' data showed no defects.

Rio Tinto says it has signed a deal with China to develop a massive iron ore project in Guinea.

Lloyds Banking Group says it expects to make a profit this year - having made heavy losses due to bad loans in 2009.

China's first domestically developed civilian helicopter takes off on a maiden flight in the eastern province of Jiangxi.

Blacks Leisure shuns a a £26m takeover approach from its rival Sports Direct as 'wholly inadequate'.

Can richer sports learn from Gaelic games?

Marks and Spencer's chief executive and chairman Sir Stuart Rose will give up his executive role in July and take a 25% pay cut.

The public spending watchdog criticises the Student Loans Company and warns of another year of delays.

New rules come into force aimed at stopping phone companies stealing custom by mis-selling landline deals.

AP - Most Asian stock markets turned higher Friday as modestly positive reports about the U.S. economy underpinned optimism about the global recovery.

AFP - Mexico's state-owned Pemex oil company said that the new oil fields it discovered two years ago in the Gulf of Mexico could yield more than two billion barrels of oil.

Talks between British Airways and the Unite union aimed at averting strike action are now in their second day.

Blacks Leisure shuns a a £26m takeover approach from its rival Sports Direct as 'wholly inadequate'.

UK car production jumped sharply in February, up 62.7% from a year ago, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders says.

Identity fraud is likely to accelerate in 2010 as organised criminals target the rich, a report says.

AP - China is sending a Cabinet official to Washington in a bid to defuse trade tensions, the government said Friday, as it called on U.S. leaders to cool the 'politicization and emotionalization' of a currency dispute.

AP - Britain's Lloyds Banking Group PLC said Friday it expects to report a profit this year as trading has so far been strong and provisions for bad assets are not as large as previously forecast.

AP - World stock markets turned higher Friday as modestly positive reports about the U.S. economy underpinned optimism about the global recovery.

AP - The euro is lower against the dollar in European morning trade after Greece said it may turn to the International Monetary Fund for aid if the EU does not agree to a rescue package.

AFP - Formula One automaker McLaren has launched a supercar, part of a drive by the firm to shift up a gear in its battle to capture the high-performance commercial sports car market.

Airline and union leaders restarted talks on Friday to try to halt a strike this weekend that would disrupt thousands of passengers.

Boeing was thought to have won the contract by default after Northrop Grumman ended its partnership with EADS.

The deal to jointly develop an iron ore project could help repair Sino-Australian relations.

Computing veteran Palm is losing ground fast to the iPhone and Blackberry in the battle of the smartphones.

Consumers are increasingly using social media websites to vent their anger after receiving poor service, a survey says.

AP - British stocks led Friday's advance in global markets after the part-nationalized Lloyds Banking Group issued a buoyant trading update, but the euro continued to founder amid renewed fears about Greek debt crisis.

AP - Royal Dutch Shell PLC says it has made a significant discovery of oil 25,000 feet below the surface in the Gulf of Mexico.

AP - European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso says the EU needs to agree as soon as possible on a mechanism to support Greece financially if needed.

AP - The European Union's finance executive called Friday for banks to pay into a fund that could be drawn upon in case of collapse, an effort to shield taxpayers from the fallout of future crises.

AFP - The German government sees aid to Greece from the International Monetary Fund as an option to resolving its debt problems, Chancellor Angela Merkel's spokesman said on Friday.

AP - Germany's Daimler AG said Friday it doesn't plan to exercise an option to sell its sizable stake in aerospace and defense contractor EADS NV, the Franco-German company.

BusinessWeek - Ooh la la! Our family's INSEAD MBA (INSEAD Full-Time MBA Profile) experience feels like one intense Twilight Zone episode. Time has lost all value, and it's difficult to pinpoint when my husband, Mark, actually attended his first lecture. Was it four months ago or four days ago? Or has it been four years now? Standard calendars confirm the program commenced in September 2009, but the whirlwind of events that has transpired since then has aged me several years. ...

A European Resolution Authority, says Dominique Strauss-Kahn, would be supported by funds from governments and the private sector to deal with failures of large banks.

With little guidance from economic news, traders may be looking for direction at the end of the week.

A strike by British Airways cabin crew will go ahead after talks between the airline and the Unite union collapsed.

Rio Tinto signs a big African venture deal with China, days before four of its officials go on trial in Shanghai.

Railway signal workers vote in favour of strikes in a row over jobs - as British Airways and unions battle to avert walkouts.

Consumers are increasingly using social media websites to vent their anger after receiving poor service, a survey says.

A damning verdict on the UK's £24bn secondhand car market is published by the fair trading watchdog.

AP - Boeing will speed up production plans for its 777 and 747 models in anticipation of greater demand from commercial airlines in a couple of years.

AP - Stocks traded in a narrow range Friday as investors shied away from major moves in the absence of any significant economic news.

AP - Activist shareholder Carl Icahn is launching a takeover bid for Lions Gate Entertainment. The disclosure comes a week after the film studio rejected his bid to take a larger stake in the company.

AP - Airbus parent EADS says it is considering a new bid for a lucrative Pentagon contract for mid-air refueling tankers, but wants an extended deadline.

AP - German insurer Allianz SE expects its 2010 operating profit to be around last year's level of euro7.2 billion ($9.7 billion) as the global economy comes out of a long downturn.

Reuters - The European Union's monetary affairs chief urged the bloc's leaders on Friday to agree on a standby aid package for Greece next week after Athens said it could seek IMF help if it gets no firm promise of European aid.

AFP - World oil prices fell further on Friday as a strong US currency dented investor enthusiasm for dollar-priced crude, analysts said.

Carl C. Icahn said on Friday that he is now seeking to acquire all of Lions Gate Entertainment, expanding a tender offer for the film company that originally sought only to expand his stake to 29.9 percent.

The strike of the airline?s cabin crew is set to begin on Saturday.

Finding a good one takes research and perseverance, but unfortunately, the typical search is made under duress and with little time available.

Computing veteran Palm is losing ground fast to the iPhone and Blackberry in the battle of the smartphones.

South Africa's budget airline pulls its tongue-in-cheek ad after a Fifa complaint that it infringes its trademark during the World Cup.

Dwindling catches pose threat to Senegal fishermen

AP - Boeing Co. will speed up production plans for its 777 and 747 models in anticipation of greater demand from commercial airlines in a couple of years.

AP - Stocks fell Friday after renewed concerns about Greece's ability to pay its debts left investors questioning a global economic recovery.

AP - Activist shareholder Carl Icahn raised the stakes in his yearlong dispute with Lions Gate Entertainment Corp. on Friday, launching an all-out bid to take over the movie studio following disagreements over its spending.

AP - A former Spanish police chief convicted of embezzling the equivalent of euro10 million ($14 million) became a free man Friday after serving 15 years in prison, and immediately faced — and dodged — the question on many Spaniards' minds: where'd he stash the money?

The Motley Fool - It's not the risk of low interest rates or reckless fiscal policy. Nor is it the shaky securitization market or unsustainable GDP growth.

AFP - The World Trade Organization is to issue a ruling Tuesday on a US complaint charging the European Union with illegal subsidies to aircraft manufacturer Airbus, an industry source said Friday.

AP - A Nigerian military spokesman says an oil facility in oil-rich southern Nigeria has been damaged by an attack.

The strike of the airline?s cabin crew is set to begin on Saturday.

Companies will compete for a share of the $8 billion that President Obama has granted for 13 high-speed corridors across the United States.

AP - Prince Harry says he hopes to join a group of disabled soldiers in a charity expedition to the North Pole to raise money for wounded troops.

Reuters - Republicans in the House of Representatives on Friday recommended the country's two mortgage finance giants be phased out in four years in an effort to restore stability to the housing market.

AP - Interest rates fell in the bond market Friday as renewed concerns about Greece's ability to pay its debts left investors questioning how strong the global economy is.

AP - The number of rigs actively exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. increased by 20 this week to 1,427.

If you?ve locked in a rock-bottom rate, does it still make sense to make extra payments to reduce your mortgage? It depends.

Wealthy benefactors are becoming more attuned to the particulars of setting up prizes, sometimes worth millions, to achieve their goals or draw attention to causes.

The European Commission president called for Germany and other governments that use the euro to put up a package of loans to assist Greece.

The pound drops against the dollar and the euro after a Bank of England policymaker said the UK could fall back into recession.

AP - Google looks likely to win a European high court battle over how it uses keywords in advertising — but legal experts say the issue is likely to keep rattling the search giant.

AP - A federal judge has rejected a multimillion-dollar legal settlement for people sickened by dust from the World Trade Center.

AFP - Americans who don't pay their taxes face hefty fines, can have their property seized or their wages witheld. Or worse still, they could find themselves named and shamed on the Internet.

AP - The head of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said Friday loopholes need to be filled in new Senate legislation to ensure an end to the disastrous 'too-big-to-fail' approach that brought the government rushing in to bail out big banks in the financial crisis.

AP - Major companies tentatively scheduled to report quarterly earnings next week:

AP - The European Commission urged Germany and other eurozone governments Friday to put up a package of government-to-government loans to ease Greece's financial plight and end weeks of financial turmoil and speculation.

AP - Discount apparel retailer Syms Corp. on Friday named Joel Feigenbaum chief integration officer.

AP - Oil prices slumped at the end of the week, tumbling Friday close to $80 a barrel as continued uncertainty about Greece's economy helped lift the dollar higher.

Wall Street indexes declined as a sharp drop in the price of oil weighed on energy stocks.

Senator Christopher J. Dodd, the chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, called on Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. on Friday to start an investigation of Lehman Brothers over the accounting maneuvers that contributed to its collapse in September 2008, and he said the Justice Department should look at 'other companies that may have engaged in similar accounting manipulation.'

Dominique Strauss-Kahn?s proposed European Resolution Authority would be supported by funds from governments and the private sector to deal with failures of large banks.

The European Commission urges eurozone governments to agree a package of loans to help Greece resolve its debt crisis.

AP - Regulators have shut down banks in Utah, Ohio and Georgia, boosting to 33 the number of bank failures in the U.S. so far this year.

AP - A convicted embezzler who snagged more than $9 million in business tax credits from the state of Michigan has been charged with defrauding an elderly neighbor.

AP - Indoor waterpark resort company Great Wolf Resorts Inc. said Friday it plans to offer $225 million of first mortgage notes due 2017.

British Airways cabin crew begin strike action which will cause severe disruption to flights for the next three days.

AP - A Lehman Brothers whistleblower warned his bosses that accounting gimmicks the bank used before its collapse may have been illegal, his lawyer said Friday.

AP - Regulators on Friday shut down seven banks in five states, bringing to 37 the number of bank failures in the U.S. so far this year.

AFP - EU financial services commissioner Michel Barnier sought on Friday to calm US fears of discrimination over European financial services reforms that would regulate hedge funds.

While exports to the United States might rebound this year, in the long run the decline in western demand and the growing importance of China represent a fundamental shift for the oil market.

Instead of worrying about the recovery of the real estate market, some Canadians are concerned about the prospect of a price bubble.

The Senate Banking Committee, which is set to begin consideration of a bill that would overhaul financial regulations, received 359 amendments by the Friday deadline.

An auditor exposed major gaps in federal oversight of the organic food industry, pointing to numerous shortcomings of the National Organic Program.

A joint venture in a mine in the West African nation of Guinea suggests that tension between Australia and China may be easing.

The offer by Carl Icahn, who owns about 18.9 percent of the film company, comes after Lions Gate?s rejection of his previous proposal for a 29.9 percent stake.

The closings bring to 37 the number of bank failures so far this year.

In taking an unexpected step, the bank said it was ?imperative? to control rising prices as inflation reached a 16-month high.

Gov. Charlie Crist said the acquisition of 73,000 acres would heal the Everglades, but the water district that would finance it is struggling.

An appeals court affirmed a decision that the Federal Reserve Board must release reports identifying financial firms that received $1 trillion in emergency loans.

The Humane Society of the United States said that the exploding demand among the needy for food banks was rapidly expanding to desperate pet owners.

The spending habits of Representative Gregory W. Meeks have drawn the scrutiny of ethics watchdogs and regulators, who question if his use of campaign money.

Officials blame the 34 percent increase in the number of homeless in New York City to the recession and promise new efforts to deal with the problem.

Reuters - India's minister of commerce and industry said on Friday that progress in concluding global trade talks was behind schedule but that it was up to political leaders to decide if they can meet their own year-end deadline for a deal.

Investor's Business Daily - When the first gas started flowing through the 1,679-mile-long Rockies Express Pipeline in November last year, it was a coming-of-age party for a growing class of pipeline owners called MLPs.

Retailers say they are using video cameras to watch customers as a way to make shopping in stores more enjoyable, but privacy advocates are skeptical.

A big problem is that DNA scanning, in many cases, cannot yet offer meaningful predictions about a person?s risk for getting as disease.

Because of a late application, a patent on Angiomax will expire this year instead of 2014, potentially costing a drug maker hundreds of millions.

Navigenics is aiming its DNA testing as a health-related service; 23andMe considers it informational. In a business sense, those are major differences.

Shares of Palm Inc. fell the most in more than two years in Nasdaq trading after it forecast sales this quarter that were less than half of analysts? estimates.

The SunPower Corporation posted a lower quarterly profit and said it would restate earnings for two years because of accounting errors.

The Lloyds Banking Group said that it expected to report a profit this year as trading had so far been strong and provisions for bad assets were not as large as previously forecast.

Canadian retail sales rose in January, as consumers stocked up on home improvement supplies before a federal tax credit expired.

Reuters - Minister of commerce and industry Anand Sharma said on Friday that progress in concluding global trade talks was behind schedule but that it was up to political leaders to decide if they can meet their own year-end deadline for a deal.