2005-02-04: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. appeals court on Friday rejected the government's bid to force cigarette makers to pay billions of dollars in past profits as part of its racketeering case against the industry.

2005-02-04: DETROIT (Reuters) - Emotional and jubilant Iraqi expatriates braved long trips and frigid weather to cast their votes across the United States on Friday, their enthusiasm making up for their low numbers.

2005-02-04: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Thursday he twice offered his resignation to President Bush over the Abu Ghraib prisoner abuse scandal, but both times was asked to stay in the job.

2005-02-04: WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The FBI has squandered $170 million on a failed computer system agents can use to instantly share information, and seems to know neither how long it will take nor how much it will cost to build one, a Justice Department audit showed on Thursday.

2005-02-04: Weekly wages for rank-and-file workers fell because companies reduced the average length of the workweek.

2005-02-04: Reuters - European shares hit new 2-1/2 year highs on Friday, with British Airways up 1 percent after it raised its revenue outlook and beat forecasts, and with the market focusing on U.S. employment data due later in the day.

2005-02-04: AP - The U.S. dollar gained on the euro Friday following the release of labor market data in Washington and a speech by U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan.

2005-02-04: AFP - European stock markets rose, shaking off disappointing US jobs figures which nonetheless pointed to slow but steady economic expansion.

2005-02-04: Reuters - New Century Financial Corp. , one of the largest U.S. subprime mortgage lenders, on Thursday said profit rose 6 percent as loan volume jumped by more than one-third.

2005-02-04: In northeast Queens, houses are growing in size, altering the landscape, increasing property values and raising the ire of many neighbors.