IBT Staff Reporter

Diversified U.S. manufacturer United Technologies Corp expects profit to rise about 10 percent next year despite an uncertain economic recovery, as a year of heavy cost-cutting pays off.

In the IPO boom that has swept through Asia this year, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange emerged as the world's top producer of new, publicly traded companies.

Investor Carl Icahn said on Friday that he bought the first lien bank debt of Trump Entertainment Resorts (TRMPQ.PK) and planned to team up with Beal Bank to present a restructuring plan for the bankrupt casino operator.

The European Union urged the International Monetary Fund on Friday to pursue a global tax on financial transactions to limit the risk of another economic crisis, despite U.S. opposition.

The world should at least halve greenhouse gas emissions by 2050 with rich nations taking the lead, according to a first draft text on Friday seeking to break deadlock on a new climate pact at U.N. talks.

Convicted and admitted Ponzi schemer Bernard Madoff worked in a maintenance job in August, the Wall Street Journal reported on Friday, citing prison logs from a medium security prison facility in North Carolina where he is serving a 150 year sentence.

China will subsidize sales of green vehicles in five cities selected for a pilot programme as the government steps up efforts to promote environmentally friendly vehicles in a bid to cut fuel emissions.

In the IPO boom that has swept through Asia this year, the Hong Kong Stock Exchange (HKEx) (0388.HK) emerged as the world's top producer of new, publicly traded companies.

First draft proposals to scale up global carbon markets, under U.N. climate talks in Copenhagen, would soften the rule for project developers to prove their emissions cuts are tougher than normal trends.

Stocks rose on Friday as reports pointing to steadying consumer demand supported optimism that the burgeoning economic recovery will be sustainable.

U.S. consumers stepped up their spending in November and grew more optimistic this month, data showed on Friday, raising hopes a self-sustaining economic recovery was starting to unfold.

U.S. import prices rose 1.7 percent in November in their largest gain since June, driven higher by fuel costs, a government report showed on Friday.

Microsoft and SAP will voice their concerns at a European Union hearing on Friday over Oracle's plan to buy Sun Microsystems, adding to regulators' skepticism over the deal.

European leaders promised on Friday to provide developing countries with 7.3 billion euros ($10.8 billion) over three years to try to win their support for a climate change deal in Copenhagen.

Rostelecom (ROS.N), Russia's largest long distance call operator, said it would delist from the New York Stock Exchange as part of a reform of the state telecoms sector, though it will remain listed on local bourses.

Shares in uranium producers offer prospects of long-term gains as China ramps up ambitious growth in its nuclear industry, but the ride may be rough due to excess near-term supplies from expanding mines and inventories.

Egypt's Orascom Telecom (ORTE.CA) said it rejected regulator support for a France Telecom (FT) (FTE.PA) bid for shared asset Mobinil, which would net Orascom more than $1.6 billion but see it exit its home turf.

Tokyo is considering ways to reflect in its 2020 greenhouse gas emission-cut goal the value of a global contribution to emissions cuts from Japan's energy-saving technology, a vice trade minister said on Friday.

A sustained rise in European carbon prices in 2010 needs renewed buying from utilities rather than a positive outcome from U.N. climate talks in Copenhagen, Barclays Capital's head of environmental markets said.

Britain will contribute along with France at least 1.5 billion pounds ($2.44 billion) to climate finance funding for 2010-2012, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown said on Friday.

News anchor Diane Sawyer said Good Morning America one last time Friday morning, the date of her final appearance on the show ahead of her move to World News.

Quicksilver Gas Services LP said its offering of 4 million limited partner units was priced at $21.10 a piece, a 5 percent discount to the stock's close on Thursday.

Rihanna is not the kind of starlet who wants a cute butterfly tattoo on her ankle. The Disturbia singer has gotten attention for her choice of body ink before, and recently had a gun tattooed on her rib cage.

Harsco Corp, which provides products and services to metals producers, forecast double-digit earnings growth for 2010 as it sees steel production rising and the U.S. dollar weakening. However, near-term challenges still remain due to lower global non-residential construction, Chief Executive Salvatore Fazzolari said.

Warning: The following facts about musician Bruce Hornsby may, or may not, be true.

Lawyers for Roman Polanski battled prosecutors in a California court on Thursday, arguing again for dismissal of the film director's 1977 guilty plea for having sex with an underage girl, citing judicial misconduct.

Sales at U.S. retailers rose more than expected in November as consumers stepped up spending on gasoline and a wide range of other goods, data showed on Friday, raising hopes of a self-sustaining economic recovery.

Chinese performer He Hongqing can change his facial expressions, and make up, on stage in a flash, but it's not due to skills learned at drama school.

State-run Indian Oil Corp expects to re-open its 40,000 bpd crude unit by end-December after a maintenance shut down at its Koyali refinery in western Gujarat state, a company source said on Friday.