IBT Staff Reporter

Mongolia has shortlisted eight potential partners for its huge Tavan Tolgoi coking coal project, according to Temuulen Ganzorig, deputy director of Erdenes MGL, the Mongolian government company that will hold at least 51 percent of the equity.

Daylight Saving Time schedule ends on Sunday November 1 (The first Sunday of November) at 2 a.m., according to official information from the U.S. government.

U.S. drugmaker Merck & Co Inc's $41.1 billion takeover of smaller rival Schering-Plough Corp won approval from European Union antitrust regulators on Friday.

Malaysia's biggest mobile service provider, Maxis Bhd, aims to raise as much as $3.65 billion in the country's biggest IPO, despite a cooling off in demand for Asian listings following China's flurry of offerings.

Boeing Co has submitted two proposals to the Indian Air Force, offering the AH-64D Apache and the CH-47F Chinook in a deal potentially worth $2 billion, Boeing's country head and Indian officials said on Friday.

South Korea ended a frustrating losing streak in overseas resource deals with the agreed $1.7 billion takeover of Canada's Harvest Energy Trust, securing oil and gas reserves but also taking on an aging refinery in need of significant investment.

Existing home sales resumed their growth trend in September, with sales having risen for five of the past six months, the National Association of Realtors reported on Friday.

Russia has agreed to proposals by the U.N. nuclear watchdog to help reduce Iran's stockpile of low-enriched uranium, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Friday.

Thousands of New York City apartment renters on Thursday won a major court victory that could help them keep lower rents, but may drive landlords into foreclosure and crater city tax revenues.

Freddie Mac, the second-largest U.S. home funding company, said on Friday its mortgage investment portfolio grew by an annualized 7.3 percent rate in September, while delinquencies on loans it guarantees accelerated.

A trade row between Thailand and the Philippines threatened to derail a regional free trade pact on Friday, as hosts Thailand cast tight security over an Asian summit twice postponed due to anti-government protests.

South East Asian leaders are meeting in Thailand to work toward creating a political and economic union for the region by 2015.

Microsoft Corp's quarterly profit and revenue beat Wall Street expectations, sending shares of the world's largest software maker sharply higher on Friday.

A storm moving toward the northeast of the Philippines weakened on Friday but hundreds of people fled coastal areas, fearing for their lives after powerful typhoons in recent weeks killed more than 920 people.

Chinese President Hu Jintao, made the fifth phone conversation with U.S. President Barack Obama Wednesday. President Hu expressed his confidence that a positive outcome at the upcoming Copenhagen world climate summit in December could be provided improvement in bilateral relations and faced the weather pattern challenge.

The administration plans to send Congress on Monday new draft legislation that would give the government authority to dismantle large financial companies that get into crises, U.S. Representative Barney Frank said on Friday.

The United States has formally asked Switzerland to extradite film director Roman Polanski, who fled sentencing in California on child sex charges in 1978, the Swiss justice ministry said on Friday.

Japanese Prime Minister Yukio Hatoyama said on Friday there was no need to rush a decision that could stall a realignment of U.S. troops in the country, as tension grows over an issue that could fray ties with Washington.

Soupy Sales, a pioneer of slapstick television comedy who once estimated he had taken 20,000 pies in the face, died on Thursday night in a New York hospice, the Detroit Free Press reported. He was 83.

A Bahamian lawmaker who caused a judge to order the retrial of two people accused of trying to extort $25 million from actor John Travolta was just repeating a rumor when he prematurely announced an acquittal verdict, his lawyer said on Thursday.

Oilfield services leader Schlumberger Ltd reported slightly better-than-expected quarterly earnings on Friday but warned North American natural gas activity would remain weak until late 2010.

The Dow and the S&P 500 indexes moved lower on Friday as a brief boost from September existing home sales data evaporated, and gains in the U.S. dollar diminished the appetite for riskier assets.

Major U.S. airlines have matched a domestic fare increase initiated by AMR Corp's American Airlines, marking the fifth industry wide fare hike in 2009, a top fare analyst said on Friday.

NATO ministers agreed on Friday on the need to boost training of Afghan forces to allow them eventually to take over from international troops and to insist on higher standards from the next Afghan government.

Rockers Bon Jovi on Thursday announced a world tour of almost two years to promote their 11th studio album The Circle.

Iran on Friday failed to accept a U.N.-drafted plan for it to cut a stockpile of nuclear fuel that the West fears could be used for weapons, instead calling for responses to its own proposal.

A Taliban suicide bomber killed eight people outside a key Pakistani airforce facility Friday, with officials quick to deny suggestions the target was linked to the country's nuclear program.

A small group of Michael Jackson's dedicated fans have started an awareness campaign surrounding the upcoming movie This is It, saying it covers up the grim reality of the dead pop star's final days.

Expect bloody competition for the top spot at the weekend box office.