IBT Staff Reporter

Prices for utility permits to emit the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide in the U.S. East fell in the sixth quarterly auction of the allowances, states in the regional market said on Friday.

(Corrects month in 2nd paragraph to November, instead of December)

Closeout retailer Big Lots Inc posted a better-than-expected quarterly profit, aided by lower freight costs, and raised its outlook for the holiday fourth quarter, sending its shares up more than 14 percent.

Dear Sam: I am 57 years old and was downsized in February after almost 9 years on the job. I suspect the lack of interviews I have received relates directly to my résumé. My previous income was $70K with a $7K car allowance and all of my gas paid for.

German Q-Cells will continue its wafer supply contract with China's LDK after the two companies agreed to drop legal action over the agreement, which Q-Cells had declared as ended last month.

U.S. stocks jumped at the open on Friday, with all three major indexes up more than 1 percent, after the government said employers cut far fewer jobs than expected in November, signaling a strengthening labor market.

A Sydney-based New York artist will show for the first time a series of paintings about guns in a sensual feminine way.

Just a day after Bing rolled out an array of changes and updates including its new Bing Maps, Microsoft had to apologize after its search engine went offline on Thursday evening. Bing users were unable to access the site between 6:30pm to 7:00pm PST. At first, the site was simply unresponsive or returned partial search results. The page then turned into an error page explaining that the site was unavailable.

A U.N.-led drive to raise cash to help poor nations cope with global warming is looking fairly encouraging, three days before a 190-nation climate conference, the U.N.'s top climate official said on Friday.

Director Jason Reitman's Up in the Air was chosen the best film of 2009 and Clint Eastwood was named best director by the National Board of Review on Thursday in the first big awards of Hollywood's Oscar season.

In a sharp move three days after replacing Chief Executive Fritz Henderson, General Motors Co Chairman and acting CEO Ed Whitacre announced a broad shake-up of the automakers senior leadership on Friday.

After two years of work, and 12 years after their last attempt, 190 nations gather in Copenhagen from Monday to try to avert dramatic climate change -- what one minister called the most difficult talks ever embarked upon by humanity.

Hollywood has finally realized that Tobey Maguire has grown up. The actor who gained fame as a teenager in the Spider-Man movies has embraced fatherhood and a new role as a soldier whose family is torn apart by war.

Sony Pictures on Thursday said global ticket sales for its movies have neared $3.4 billion, beating a studio record with a range of films such as Michael Jackson's This Is It, which raked in more than $250 million worldwide.

Following are the negotiating positions of major nations before a 190-nation U.N. conference in Copenhagen on December 7-18 which will try to work out a new pact to combat climate change.

Jocks get new respect in a large Swedish study that suggests physically active teen boys may be smarter than their couch-potato counterparts.

Shiny-nosed Rudolph proved the biggest draw on U.S. television Wednesday night as the 1964 animated Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer beat Grammy nominees Black Eyed Peas and Aretha Franklin at New York's Rockefeller Center Christmas tree lighting.

European Union carbon emissions futures eased slightly on Friday on the back of sliding oil and gas prices, with utilities shedding some of their length, traders said.

U.S. military personnel deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan face an increased risk for developing respiratory symptoms, including persistent or recurring cough and shortness of breath, a large-scale military study has shown.

China's official news agency has denounced proposals for carbon tariffs on goods from big greenhouse gas emitting countries, saying on Friday that the idea could trigger trade battles with poor countries.

Kids who are depressed and have delinquents for friends may be the most likely to lash out violently at others, according to a new study in The Journal of Pediatrics.

In the sound and fury following the U.N. nuclear governors' censure of Iran last week for its cover-up of a second uranium enrichment site, and Tehran's rejection of a nuclear cooperation deal with world powers, a broader, festering issue was obscured.

People treated for heart problems at rural hospitals fare about as well as those getting care at urban medical centers, a study of U.S. hospitals suggests.

Closeout retailer Big Lots Inc reported better-than-expected quarterly profit, as initial markups and lower freight costs boosted gross margins, and raised its outlook for the holiday fourth quarter.

U.S. employers cut far fewer jobs than expected last month in the best showing for the labor market since the recession began, boosting the U.S. dollar and global stock prices on hopes for a strong economic recovery.

Kenya could lose up to 3 percent of its $35 billion GDP annually by 2030 due to global warming, a donor-funded study on the impact of climate change on east Africa's biggest economy showed on Friday.

Japan's trading houses, which made fortunes from heavy bets on coal and iron ore, see water as their next big investment target as industrialization and urbanization in emerging economies boost demand for clean water.

The presidents of Russia and the United States on Friday pledged to keep working for a deal to reduce arsenals of Cold War nuclear weapons, as an existing treaty expired, but did not announce any new agreement.

A drug that targets hepatitis C in an entirely new way was highly effective at suppressing the virus in chimpanzees and kept working for several weeks after the treatment stopped, U.S. researchers said on Thursday.