• April housing starts, permits up more than forecast
  WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Construction starts on new U.S. homes rose by a surprisingly strong 8.2 percent in April and applications for new building permits turned up for the first time in five months, the Commerce Department said on Friday in a report showing that the hard-hit housing sector still had some spring vigor.

  

  

  
• Icahn's Yahoo fight puts Microsoft in driver's seat
  SEATTLE (Reuters) - Two weeks after Microsoft Corp abandoned its pursuit of Yahoo Inc, a proxy fight launched by activist investor Carl Icahn has put Microsoft in the driver's seat.

  

  

  
• Futures add to gains on housing data
  NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. stock index futures added to gains on Friday on optimism about the housing market after the government said construction starts on new U.S. homes rose in April and applications for new building permits turned up for the first time in five months.

  

  

  
• WTO tells U.S. to cut trade barriers, improve exports
  GENEVA (Reuters) - The United States should cut barriers to its markets to help it tackle economic turmoil, and boost exports to deal with its current account deficit, the World Trade Organisation (WTO) said.

  

  

  
• GE says it may sell appliances business
  NEW YORK (Reuters) - General Electric Co said on Friday it may sell or spin off its century-old appliances unit in a bid to lower its exposure to the slumping U.S. housing market.

  

  

  

Coverage includes breaking news, market reports, newsmaker interviews and key company profiles.

• Japan back from Bubble
  Oct. 18 - Japanese real estate prices are rising again, 16 years after its "Bubble" era ended in tears.
• Intel cheers Asian shares
  Oct. 18 - Asian shares rose Thursday on expectations of lower U.S. interest rates and strong results by tech giant Intel.
• New facets for diamond business
  Oct. 16 - The world diamond industry says it wants to rethink its business strategy and give more power to producing countries in Africa.
• Posting for profit
  Oct. 10 - A new service from Blinkx.com allows consumers to take a cut of ad revenue from video on their own websites.
• A380 finally lands in Singapore
  Oct. 17 - Two years later than originally scheduled, the Airbus A380 superjumbo lands in Singapore ready for commercial service.