AFP - BP sought to spread the blame for the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster, setting off a battle of oil industry giants with tens of billions of dollars in potential fines and legal liabilities at stake.

Reuters - Switzerland remains the world's most competitive economy, while the United States has fallen from second to fourth after losing the top spot last year, according to the World Economic Forum's annual rankings issued on Thursday.

AP - Thai-made Nissan March subcompact cars — the first major model from a Japanese automaker being mass produced abroad for sale in Japan — are getting extra scrutiny from a team of quality experts to meet choosey consumer standards, a senior executive said Thursday.

Reuters - Asian stocks edged up and the yen held below a 15-year high on Thursday, after a small rally on Wall Street driven by successful European bond auctions gave investors an excuse to lighten up on their bets.

Reuters - Goldman Sachs has been fined 20 million pounds ($30.9 million) by the UK's financial regulator for failing to disclose it was under fraud investigation by its U.S. counterpart, the BBC reported on Wednesday.

Reuters - Australia's competition regulator blocked National Australia Bank's $12 billion bid for AXA Asia Pacific for a second time, dashing NAB's efforts to cement its dominance in the world's fourth-largest wealth management market.

AP - BP took some of the blame for the Gulf oil disaster in an internal report issued Wednesday, acknowledging among other things that it misinterpreted a key pressure test of the well. But in a possible preview of its legal strategy, it also pointed the finger at its partners on the doomed rig.

AP - BP took some of the blame for the Gulf oil disaster in an internal report issued Wednesday, acknowledging among other things that it misinterpreted a key pressure test of the well. But in a possible preview of its legal strategy, it also pointed the finger at its partners on the doomed rig.

AP - Politically weakened but refusing to bend, President Barack Obama insisted Wednesday that Bush-era tax cuts be cut off for the wealthiest Americans, joining battle with Republicans — and some fellow Democrats — just two months before bruising midterm elections.

AP - South Korea's central bank left its key interest rate near a record low Thursday for a second straight month as the risk of slowing global growth outweighed a buoyant outlook for the local economy.

Reuters - BP Plc and its Gulf of Mexico oil well partners traded blame on Wednesday after an internal BP investigation tried to downplay the company's role in the world's biggest offshore spill.

Reuters - BP Plc and its Gulf of Mexico oil well partners traded blame on Wednesday after an internal BP investigation tried to downplay the company's role in the world's biggest offshore spill.

AFP - Floods that have affected almost one million people in the south and east of Mexico will likely worsen after the opening of a dam and predictions of more rain, a state governor said Wednesday.

AP - The unprecedented turtle rescue effort at NASA's Kennedy Space Center is winding down.

AP - The weird world of dinosaurs has just gotten a tad more bizarre. Scientists found a nearly complete fossil of a new dinosaur that sports a noticeable hump, maybe as possible advertising.

AFP - Palaeontologists in Spain have discovered the remains of a strange dinosaur with a hump that they believe is the forerunner of flesh-eating leviathans which once ruled the planet.

AP - A water main break at NASA's spaceport put launch preparations on temporary hold Wednesday for the next-to-last shuttle flight.

AFP - London shares closed higher on Wednesday after a boost from a successful Portuguese debt auction, although many financial stocks remained weak.