IBT Staff Reporter

Cuban musicians are returning to perform in the United States after a long freeze on such visits, seizing the opportunity of friendlier overtures toward Havana from U.S. President Barack Obama.

Mining giants BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto on Saturday signed a $116 billion iron ore joint venture agreement to combine their Western Australian iron ore operations.

Regulators seized six more U.S. banks on Friday, bringing the tally of failures to 130 this year as the bank industry continues to suffer under the weight of deteriorating loans.

Apple Inc has acquired digital music service Lala, as the dominant online music retailer explores new models for selling songs.

NBC news anchor, Tom Brokaw, was on Friday involved in an accident that left one woman dead in New York.

Apple Inc is in early talks to acquire digital music service Lala, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

They normally ponder ways to entertain Americans, but media chiefs this week entertained more somber thoughts about the future of the United States, as several saw a fading superpower hobbled by the recession

Apple Inc is in early talks to acquire digital music service Lala, according to a person with knowledge of the matter.

Comcast Corp and NBC Universal executives said on Friday they hope to submit documents to antitrust and communications regulators in January.

President Obama, who had planned to speak at the climate change summit in UN summit on climate change in Copenhagen on Wednesday, will now only arrive on Dec. 18, the White House said Friday.

American student Amanda Knox and her former Italian boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, were on Saturday found guilty of the murder and sexual assault of former roommate Meredith Kercher and sentenced to 26 and 25 years respectively in prison.

Cisco Systems Inc is expected next week to say it can return to double-digit sales growth due to a stronger economy and expansion in high-growth businesses, including the acquisition of videoconference leader Tandberg .

The Copenhagen Council and Lord Mayor, Ritt Bjerregaard who is hosting the UN Climate Change Conference (COP15) urged guests and delegates not to buy sex.

U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Friday that not even the largest banks could have survived without government intervention last year.

Slim Fast is recalling all of its canned Slim Fast drinks due to possible bacterial contamination.

Myanmar's Supreme Court said Friday that It will allow opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, the Nobel laureate to appeal against the extended house arrest.

The Obama administration can shift substantial resources from bank bailouts to job creation and will soon spell out the case for doing so, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Friday.

Nintendo Wii, one of the hottest Christmas gift ideas, is getting another $50 off its retail price, thanks to WalMart. The retail giant said it will be offering a $50 gift card to anyone who purchases the game console, effectively lowering the price to $149. The average retail price for a Nintendo Wii is $199.

Rihanna attracted thousands of her fans for a concert at New York City's Hammerstein Ballroom Thursday, to mark the release of her new album Rated R, which critics say is her statement on ex-boyfriend Chris Brown's assault on her and her healing.

Comcast Corp struck a deal to buy a majority stake in NBC Universal from General Electric Co, creating a media superpower that would control not just how television shows and movies are made, but how they are delivered to the home.

Real estate investment trust HRPT Properties Trust (HRP.N) said it closed a new mortgage financing for $175 million, secured by one of its Philadelphia properties.

U.S. employers cut far fewer jobs than expected last month in the best showing for the labor market since the recession began, lifting the beleaguered U.S. dollar as investors bet a sustainable recovery was building.

Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was accused of making a political deal with the Mafia in the 1990s by a jailed Mafia mobster.

The British founder and chief executive of ING Real Estate Investment Management's multi-manager business has resigned due to the company's plans to relocate the unit's global team to the Netherlands.

Banking on Banks; Fast Food Blues; Another BP Spill

Kraft Foods made its formal $16.1 billion offer to Cadbury shareholders, triggering a two-month takeover fight for the chocolate maker and a frosty response from Britain.

Interest rates on U.S. 30-year fixed-rate mortgages rose to 4.79 percent on Friday after hitting a record low of 4.52 percent earlier in the week, according to real estate website Zillow.com.

U.S. mortgage insurers are likely to reject as much as $4 billion in claims by lenders over the next few years as they get more aggressive in pushing responsibility for bad loans to originators, Moody's Investors Service said in a report.

U.S. stocks advanced on Friday as data showed the economy shed far fewer jobs than expected last month, brightening the outlook for the economy and profits.