Business news for Fri, 14 Mar 2008. 1337 news.

SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- The widening subprime credit crisis that's crashing down on Wall Street has sent panicked investors flocking to the safety of Treasury bonds, but the lifeboats are getting packed.

The Democratic-led US House of Representatives defied President Bush and passed an anti-terrorism suveillance bill that permits lawsuits against telephone companies

Kevin Blackwell became as entrepreneur 20 years ago with three fruit smoothie stands. Now he is the chairman of a billion-dollar international company that has helped 3,000 others buy and run their own business franchises.

After Bear Stearns was forced to turn to rival JPMorgan Chase for a government-backed bailout, nervous investors are wondering what other banks might be at risk.

THE city's long-suffering home buyers can expect no price respite, at least in the short term. The four-day Shanghai Spring Real Estate Exhibition, which started yesterday at the Shanghai Exhibition Center, is always considered a reliable barometer for market sentiment - and demand is at fever pitch. "Home-buying interest still looms large among local residents and it is impractical to expect a significant drop in home prices as supply remains tight," said Xue Jianxiong, head of research at Shanghai Youwin Real Estate Information Services Co. More than 150 exhibitors, including real-estate developers and property agencies, are attending the fair. Among the total of 150 developments being introduced, about 30 percent are new projects, according to Jack Sheng, an official with VNU Exhibitions Asia, one of the event's organizers. Despite the fact that residential properties in suburban areas of Shanghai and neighboring cities dominate the exhibits, many booths were

UBS suffered a potentially embarrassing blow after bowing to pressure from an activist investor and agreeing to publish details of an inquiry into how it became Europe's biggest casual­ty of the US?subprime mortgage crisis

EUROPEAN shares lost 1 per cent overnight as news of emergency financing to Bear Stearns provided the latest evidence of troubles in the financial sector and heightened worries about the fallout from the credit crisis.

Richard "Dickie" Scruggs, the legendary trial lawyer who made Big Business tremble every time he set foot in court, pleaded guilty Friday to conspiring to bribe a judge — a crime that could send him to prison and spell the end of his storied legal career.

For centuries, Guatemala's Indian groups have encrusted their teeth with pieces of gold - a custom so widespread that most market places in Guatemala have a dental practice. But this tradition appears under threat from rising commodity prices

''Technology is the carrot I dangle'' in front of students, says a Glendale American Elementary School teacher who just got $2,000 from Best Buy to further her efforts.

The process of introducing new cellphone companies to Canada got off to a surprising start on Friday with unknown Niagara Networks Inc. emerging as the most aggressive player so far.

Moody's Investors Service cut Washington Mutual's credit rating Friday and said the country's largest savings and loan will need ...

A homeland security official tells CNN a joint FBI/Department of Homeland Security bulletin went out Wednesday to state and local partners warning of an uncorroborated threat to Wall Street - but the official emphasizes there is no credible threat to the homeland at this time.

(Crain’s) — The U.S. Marine Corps on Friday awarded truck and engine maker Navistar International Corp. an order to build 743 armored trucks for U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

But he puts on a brave front

The Federal Reserve appears poised to cut interest rates again when it meets Tuesday. Jim Wasserman examines what such cuts mean for consumers and homebuyers alike.

(Crain’s) – Evanston Northwestern Healthcare has approached a North Chicago medical school about a possible teaching affiliation. The three-hospital system is in discussions with Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science about “a partnership that would bring our two outstanding ...

The credit crunch hasn't significantly curtailed the amount of student-loan money available. It's mostly business as usual, financial-aid experts say.

The struggle to keep up empty properties is creating a headache for homeowners associations, city-code-compliance offices and neighbors who live near the eyesores.

One-third fewer Arizona workers or job applicants tested positive for methamphetamine use in 2007 compared with the year before.