IBT Staff Reporter

Cyber activists striking at companies seen as enemies of WikiLeaks sought to block the website of online payment firm Moneybookers on Friday but denied their campaign was intended to damage economic activity.

Hybrids are set to sound the death knell for petrol-powered company cars, which could almost be obsolete within a decade, says a new survey.

Dell Inc's billionaire chief executive, arguing that his efforts to transform his company have gone unnoticed by some on Wall Street, wants to drive the acquisitions that will prove crucial to its long-term future.

China's central bank on Friday said it was raising lenders' required reserves by 50 basis points, effective Dec 20, its sixth increase this year.

The assault of Wikileaks forced US military to ban the usage of CDs, DVDs and USB flash drives on its internal network, SIPRNET, reports suggest. The latest move is likely to force Pentagon to revert to using a rather conventional data-transfer medium. Memos sent out earlier this week by the defense department also warn of court martial to military personnel found in violation of the order.

'Black Swan' actress Natalie Portman has been named the new face of Dior.

European central bankers told euro zone governments on Friday not to count on the ECB to solve the single currency bloc's debt crisis alone as the leaders of Germany and France met to plot strategy before a key EU summit.

One of China's largest social networking companies, Oak Pacific Interactive, has hired investment banks for an initial public offering in the United States next year, the first in a rush of Chinese Facebook clones looking to list.

One of China's largest social networking companies, Oak Pacific Interactive, has hired investment banks for an initial public offering in the United States in the first half of next year, sources close to the matter told Reuters on Friday.

WikiLeaks said on Friday it had no links to cyber attacks on global companies seen as enemies of the website and neither supported nor condemned the online campaign.

Consumer electronics maker Panasonic Corp said on Friday it sees no strong recovery in year-end sales in North America and Europe, but expects to pull its loss-making TV unit into the black in the January-March quarter.

World stocks edged higher on Friday as investors grew more confident about the prospect for economic recovery following robust U.S. and Chinese data while Treasuries stabilized after a sell-off earlier this week.

Futures for the Dow Jones industrial average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 rise 0.1 to 0.3 percent, pointing to a firmer start on Wall Street on Friday.

Chinese imports and exports jumped in November, bank lending topped forecasts and property investment powered ahead, a series of numbers that could clear the way for the central bank to raise interest rates as soon as this weekend.

Japanese stocks fell on Friday after a rise to a seven-month high earlier in the day prompted profit taking, although they outperformed the rest of Asia this week, while U.S. Treasuries steadied on the view yields had risen too high, too quickly.

Component suppliers for Apple Inc's iPad are gearing up for a new round of production in the first quarter, sources said on Friday, with one saying the product will be a revamp of the popular tablet computer including front- and back-mounted cameras.

U.S. aviation regulators are drafting enhanced inspection mandates to step up their examinations of more than 600 Boeing Co's 757 airplanes worldwide, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

A strong turnout by shoppers for Black Friday boosted U.S. video game sales 8 percent last month, marking the strongest November on record, but sales for the whole year are likely to be flat at best, according to retail research firm NPD Group.

Japanese stocks slipped from a seven-month high on Friday on profit taking, though were poised to outperform the rest of Asia this week, while U.S. Treasuries were steady on the view yields had risen too high, too quickly.

China's imports and exports were much stronger than expected in November, robust numbers that could clear the way for the central bank to raise interest rates as soon as this weekend.

TSMC, the world's biggest contract chipmaker, saw its smallest year-on-year sales growth in four months as demand slowed, while analysts say a new crop of smartphones and tablet PCs could spur demand next year.

Venezuela plans to include the Internet in a law that regulates the media, under a proposed bill presented to parliament on Thursday that the opposition claims will result in censorship.

Boeing said it could not see a compelling reason to follow European rival Airbus in upgrading its best-selling single-aisle passenger plane, its commercial aircraft chief told the Financial Times.

China chose to make an example of Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo by jailing him for 11 years last year during a wider crackdown on dissidents, Spain's El Pais newspaper said on Thursday, citing U.S. diplomatic cables obtained by WikiLeaks.

Drugmaker Pfizer hired investigators to find evidence of corruption against the Nigerian attorney general to convince him to drop legal action against the company over a drug trial involving children, the Guardian newspaper reported, citing U.S. diplomatic cables made public by WikiLeaks.

Cyber attacks on global companies seen as enemies of WikiLeaks drew the attention of U.S. authorities on Thursday and Dutch police arrested a 16-year-old boy suspected in attacks on credit card sites of Visa and MasterCard.

A group of former WikiLeaks collaborators who quit the project are to launch a new campaigning site next week to protest against its founder, a Swedish newspaper said on Thursday.

A plan to give wireless networks more flexibility than their landline counterparts in proposed Internet rules is being questioned by Federal Communications Commission member Mignon Clyburn.

The website attacks launched by supporters of WikiLeaks show 21st-century cyber warfare evolving into a more amateur and anarchic affair than many predicted.