UNITED STATES

Another U.S. Federal Reserve interest rate cut this week is a foregone conclusion as far as financial markets are concerned, but a heaping helping of global inflation data may leave a sour aftertaste. foregone conclusion as far as financial markets are concerned, but a heaping helping of global inflation data may leave a sour aftertaste. The Fed is widely expected to follow the central banks of Canada and England with a quarter-percentage-point reduction in the benchmark federal funds rate on Tuesday.

A federal court denied a petition on Friday by Sprint Nextel Corp. and Qwest Communications International Inc. which challenged a decision made last year that gave Verizon Communications Inc. relief from pricing caps and regulations on broadband services.

Hackers have broken into a top U.S. military laboratory possibly leaking personal information about visitors, the lab said Friday.

China's bid to end fuel shortages only a temporary cap on the problem

U.S. stocks on Friday, finished with a 2 percent weekly gain although investors remained cautious about next week's policy-setting meeting by the Federal Reserve.

The dollar rose again versus the yen on Friday after a U.S. government report showed employers added more jobs than expected in November, easing concerns about a possible recession.

U.S. stocks ended nearly flat on Friday after the U.S. government reported slower job growth than expected and a boost in inflation.

Employers added 94,000 jobs in November, the Labor Department said on Friday in a report showing a slowdown in job creation in recent months that raises chances for a modest cut in interest rates next week. Analysts said continued gains in hiring showed the economy was not at immediate risk of crumbling onto recession but another report said consumers' moods grew darker in December.

At Apple Inc's new store in Manhattan, the smiling geniuses and concierges standing at attention are as important as the iPods and Mac computers on display.

United Airlines said on Friday that parent UAL Corp will pay shareholders $2.15 per share in a special payout totaling $250 million, marking a rare move by an airline to reward investors.

Oil hovered near $90 a barrel on Friday, searching for direction amid conflicting concerns over supply tightness and weak demand growth from a slowing economy in the United States, the world's top oil consumer.

The chance that developing countries would accept firm emissions-cutting targets receded on Friday, as U.N.-led talks to launch negotiations on a climate pact to succeed the Kyoto Protocol inched forwards.

A female suicide bomber wearing a vest packed with explosives killed 16 people in Iraq on Friday in an attack on former Sunni Arab insurgents who have joined the security forces to fight al Qaeda, police said.

Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore urged governments on Friday to advance by two years a new treaty to curb greenhouse gas emissions instead of waiting until the Kyoto pact expires in 2012.

A U.S. intelligence report claiming Iran halted a nuclear weapons program in 2003 has caught Washington's Gulf Arab allies off guard, analysts say, raising concern that U.S. pressure against Tehran could slacken.

The government's intervention to streamline the mortgage industry's process for evaluating struggling borrowers was a necessary step, Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson says. No one should lose their home just because a complex, cumbersome process simply couldn't get to them in time to determine if there is another potential solution.

UnitedHealth Group Inc.'s former CEO William W. McGuire agreed on Thursday to repay over $400 million in compensation -- in addition to $200 million he previously gave up -- as part of a settlement deal with the company and government regulators over an options backdating scandal.

Dell Inc. announced on Thursday it will begin selling PCs at more than 900 Best Buy Co. Inc. stores in an attempt to gain more of the U.S. consumer market.

Hong Kong stocks on Thursday increased for a seventh straight session after a U.S. jobs report indicated growth in the jobs market, easing worries about a recession.

Treasuries fell on Thursday after President George W. Bush announced a plan to help some homeowners with subprime mortgages by freezing their interest rates, discouraging investors from buying U.S. debt.

Some retailers reported stronger-than-expected November sales on Thursday, helped by a post-Thanksgiving rush and holiday discounts, but notable misses by others and a shift in the retail calendar left an unclear picture of the strength of the key holiday season.