Wire Business News

A U.S. Bankruptcy judge is allowing Circuit City to continue paying nearly 600 employees laid off at its headquarters before it filed for bankruptcy protection.

A New York judge has dismissed shareholders' lawsuits contesting JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s fire sale buyout of Bear Stearns.

Gas flaring declined globally in 2006 and 2007, the World Bank said Friday, referring to satellite measurements it recorded and analyzed with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

This village is little more than a road junction with a school, a small church and graveyard, three general stores and about 100 households spread across the barley and vegetable fields.

Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. on Friday raised its profit expectations and reaffirmed the strength of its capital position, sending shares of the insurance company almost 60 percent higher.

WASHINGTON - Employers shed a worse-than-expected 533,000 jobs in November, the Labor Department reported Friday, the biggest monthly jobless number in 34 years and indisputable evidence that the U.S. recession is worsening.

If troubled automakers and banks need government bailouts, why not give their customers federally financed vouchers to help cover car and mortgage payments - so both consumers and companies could benefit from the money?

German automaker Daimler AG said Friday that sales in its Mercedes-Benz Cars group dropped more than 25 percent in November to 84,500 vehicles worldwide.

Armed robbers - some disguised as women - snatched euro85 million ($108 million) worth of diamond rings, necklaces and luxury watches from a Harry Winston boutique on a posh Paris avenue in one of the largest jewel heists in history, officials said Friday.

Chilean officials say the economy grew by 4.1 percent in the 12 months

A record one in 10 American homeowners with a mortgage were either at least a month behind on their payments or in foreclosure at the end of September as the source of housing market pressure shifted to the crumbling U.S. economy.

The EU's antitrust chief said Friday that member states would be given more room to support their ailing banks, an effort to increase lending as several European countries slide into recession.

RWE Gas AG, the German energy giant, is offering to end an EU antitrust probe into its marketing practices by selling off its high-pressure transmission network to anyone not involved in generating or supplying power, the European Commission said Friday.

The blockbuster asthma drug Advair does not appear to have an increased risk of serious respiratory complications seen with similar new medicines, federal health officials said Friday.

The worsening U.S. auto sales slump claimed another 2,000 workers Friday as General Motors Corp. announced layoffs at three more car factories.

Treasury yields stuck near their historical lows on Friday after the Labor Department revealed what pessimistic bond investors were prepared for all week: Employers cut more than half a million jobs in November.

Russia's Central Bank allowed the ruble to weaken on Friday for the fourth time in a month as Urals oil slipped below $40 a barrel.

Merrill Lynch & Co. shareholders on Friday approved the investment bank's sale to Bank of America Corp., in a move that will create the nation's largest financial-services firm.

Woolworths PLC began a massive sale on Friday - raising the stakes for its peers by slashing prices by up to 50 percent - after talks between the troubled retailer's financial administrator and a potential buyer failed.

Brazil's inflation unexpectedly slowed in November, the government said Friday, rising at a rate lower than analysts had predicted.

China's Cabinet on Friday released details of a fuel tax reform that would raise taxes for gasoline and diesel while eliminating other fees for drivers.

Now that automakers are all busy gearing up to make electric vehicles, consumers should be getting a choice of roomy, speedy, gasoline-free models that charge up at a standard 110-volt socket.

Iraq's oil minister on Friday appealed to international oil companies to help Iraq to develop its petroleum sector, saying his country is now safe for investment.

News of a rapidly weakening job sent stocks tumbling Friday as investors feared that the recession will be deeper and more prolonged than many have expected. The major indexes were all down more than 1 percent and the Dow Jones industrials fell 175 points.

Brown-Forman Corp. said Friday its second-quarter profit rose 11 percent on gains by its Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey and Finlandia vodka brands.

The Italian financial police say they have arrested fashion designer Gai Mattiolo on a charge of fraudulent bankruptcy.

Germany's Rheinmetall AG, a maker of auto parts and weapons, said Friday it will cut 750 jobs and lengthen planned holiday production breaks, blaming weaker demand from car makers.

European Union antitrust regulators on Friday cleared Bank of America Corp. to buy Merrill Lynch & Co., saying they saw no problems with the $50 billion takeover that will create the largest U.S. financial services company.

Automaker BMW AG said Friday that its global sales last month slid 25 percent as the global financial crisis caused consumers to hold back from buying new cars.

In a blow to South Africa's efforts to reduce reliance on cheap, polluting coal, the state electricity company said Friday it could not afford to build a planned new nuclear power plant.