IBT Staff Reporter

NASA has cleared the way for the Atlantis shuttle launch next week on a mission to equip the space station with a new science lab.

Looking for a toilet in a hurry in London? First came SatNav for lost drivers. Now there's SatLav, a toilet-finding service to help people caught short in central London.

The Dow and S&P 500 rose on Friday, capping a dismal November with a four-day rally, as financial stocks rallied on optimism over a proposed rescue for struggling homeowners and on heightened expectations for more interest-rate cuts.

Google announced on Friday it will place a $4.6 billion bid for a portion of the 700MHz wireless spectrum up for grabs in a Federal Communications Commission auction to take place in January.

Evel Knievel, known for his famous motorcycle stunt jumps over buses and canyons in the 1970s, died on Friday. He was 69.

Despite an announcement of new leadership today, billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn is renewing his pressure on Motorola, calling for the break-up of the cell phone maker on Friday.

Microsoft will release a number of updates for its Xbox 360's dashboard and Live service starting next week, adding support for compressed movies and Apple portable devices, the company said.

Social networking site Facebook will receive $60 million from Li Ka-shing, the hairman of Cheung Kong (Holdings) Limited and Hutchison Whampoa Limited, according to reports.

Consumers should expect a second version of Apple's iPhone with added features to be released in January, an analyst said Friday.

Sony's latest game machine finally outsold its longtime rival Nintendo in Japan as strong November sales helped boost the electronics maker ahead.

Dell, the world’s second-largest personal-computer maker, decreased $3.80 to $24.33, being viewed as the biggest drag on the S&P 500.

UK oil producer Burren Energy has agreed to a takeover bid by Italian firm Eni worth £1,736 million. Eni are buying the entire issued share capital of the company at a price of £12.30 per share in cash.

China turned down another request for a U.S Navy ship to visit Hong Kong amid

Apple will unveil a faster iPhone with 3G cell phone technology in 2008, AT&T's CEO said, a move that would give users a better browsing experience but would not be available in time for holiday shoppers.

The Treasury Department is finalizing a plan with mortgage industry leaders that will hold interest payments steady for many subprime borrowers facing higher rates and possible foreclosure.

Consumer spending inched up by an unexpectedly small 0.2 percent last month and construction spending tumbled, according to reports on Friday that heightened concerns on the health of the economy.

A man claiming to have a bomb walked into Hillary Rodham Clinton's storefront campaign office Friday and took at least two hostages, police and witnesses said.

Turkey's prime minister said on Friday his cabinet had authorized the armed forces to conduct a cross-border operation against Kurdish PKK rebels in northern Iraq, but analysts said major action did not appear imminent.

Blu-Ray pulled away from rivals as the Hi-definition media wars continue through another holiday shopping season.

Motorola’s Chief Executive Officer Ed Zander, who oversaw the creation of the Razr handset, announced on Friday he will step down to make way for Greg Brown, the current Chief Operating Officer.

The dollar rallied against major currencies on Thursday after the Federal Reserve Bank’s chief indicated he was open to further rate cuts to combat a downturn in the U.S. economy.

Striking Hollywood writers represented by the Writers Guild of America (WGA) rejected a new royalty payments proposal offer from the industry's executives.

Oil fell to a one-month low on Friday on ahead of an OPEC meeting next week where countries will decide about oil output.

Gold futures dropped for the fourth straight day on Friday following a decline in crude-oil prices which reduced the demand for the precious metal.

US Stocks rose as markets opened on Friday, heading towards their biggest weekly gain since March, following comments made by Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke late yesterday that boosted expectations for another interest-rate cut in the near future.

Stocks rose on Friday on a report the U.S. Treasury will soon unveil a plan to help stem the subprime mortgage crisis and on comments by Fed chief Ben Bernanke that added to expectations of an interest-rate cut.

Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce could have up to C$10 billion ($10 billion) in hedged exposure to the U.S. subprime mortgage sector, a newspaper said on Friday.

Royal Bank of Canada reported a five-percent rise in fourth-quarter profit on Friday, as earnings growth in Canadian retail banking and wealth management offset weaker U.S. banking and capital markets results.

J.C. Flowers upped the stakes in the rescue battle for Northern Rock, offering to improve its bid but also warning it would walk away if the government won't talk, a person close to the U.S. buyout firm said.