IBT Staff Reporter

Negotiators for Ford Motor Co and the United Auto Workers talked into Friday morning as the two sides closed in on a labor deal that would cap a historic round of bargaining between the union and the embattled U.S. auto industry.

Viacom Inc said on Friday its quarterly profit rose 80 percent, boosted by the sale of its music publishing unit, strong cable advertising and blockbuster turnout for the alien robots movie Transformers.

Mazda Motor Corp posted a 1.5 percent rise in quarterly operating profit as a weaker yen, cost cuts and sales growth offset a cutback in shipments to North America, and kept its full-year profit forecast unchanged.

British Airways reported record first-half profit on Friday, up 26 percent due to cost cutting, but its shares fell by as much as 5 percent after it cut its full-year revenue guidance due to the weak U.S. dollar.

Shares in Barclays fell as much as 8 percent to hit two-and-a-half year lows on Friday amid market talk of funding worries and speculation it is telling analysts to trim profit forecasts.

Japanese Prime Minister Yasuo Fukuda struggled on Friday to break a deadlock that has halted a refueling mission in support of U.S.-led operations in Afghanistan -- and threatens to stall other policies as well.

Russia's nuclear chief on Friday said only full nuclear powers should create centers for enriching uranium, in a swipe at a Saudi proposal for Arab states to help supply Iran with enriched uranium.

The United States on Friday promised effective action against Kurdish rebels launching attacks on Turkey from northern Iraq, but cautioned Ankara against military moves that might destabilize the area.

European shares weakened again on Friday, as investors continued to sell down the banking and financial services sector as worries about the extent of exposure to U.S. home loans continued to weigh.

U.K. airline British Airways said Friday that its first-half net profit rose 50.6% to 485 million pounds, or 41.2 pence a share, from 322 million pounds, or 27.4 pence a share, a year ago. Revenue declined 0.8% at 4.46 billion pounds, impacted by currency movements, and the firm said that it's changing its fiscal-year revenue guidance to between 3% and 3.5% due to continued dollar weakness. However, a weaker U.S. dollar helped the company to contain costs, with fuel costs falling 3.5% in the period. It also said that it now expects fiscal-yeaar costs to decline by 100 million pounds due to the weak dollar, compared to previous guidance for flat costs. The airline said that fuel costs remain a major challenge and sees a fuel bill of more than 2 billion pounds for the year. British Airways posted an operating margin of 12.5% in the half year, up from 9.8% a year ago, and said that it expects to achieve its 10% fiscal-year operating margin target.

U.K. satellite television operator British Sky Broadcasting said Friday that its net profit for the three months ended Sept. 30 fell 28% to 84 million pounds ($174 million), while revenue for the period rose 11% to 1.19 billion pounds.

Asian markets fell sharply Friday, hurt by a sell-off on Wall Street.

Chrysler LLC and Ford Motor Co on Thursday reported double-digit drops in October sales, lagging rivals in a slumping U.S. market widely expected to remain under pressure into next year. Chrysler, which also announced plans to slash one-fifth of its factory work force and cut four slow-selling models, posted a 12 percent drop in monthly sales that was deeper than analysts had forecast.

South Africa has greatly improved its technology level by increasing its bandwidth beyond the requirements of the world soccer governing body, Federation of International Football Association (FIFA).

Dell Inc., yesterday revealed an Energy Star 4.0 compliant desktop that helps consumers reduce their carbon footprint, in an effort to extend its commitment to becoming the greenest technology company in the world.

Financials led a sharp drop on Wall Street on Thursday, wiping out the previous session's Fed-fueled gains, after brokerages downgraded the two biggest U.S. banks, sparking fears of more credit crisis fallout. Adding to the gloom, Exxon Mobil reported profits that fell short of analysts' expectations due to slim margins from gasoline production and lower natural gas prices.

Deutsche Bank’s third quarter results are better than expected, with the investment bank division taking less of a hit than already announced, and the retail business posting very strong earnings.

Today Domino’s Pizza warned that it was likely to be raising the cost of its pizzas for consumers due to higher manufacturing costs.

J.K. Rowling is to say goodbye to Harry Potter with a handwritten set of fairytales mentioned in her last wizard saga that she will auction for her children's charity.

Chrysler LLC said on Thursday it would cut up to 10,000 hourly jobs through 2008 as it slashes production capacity in North America and eliminates four slow-selling vehicles.

Market forces are coming up against China's command of the economy, and central planners seem to be bending, just a bit.

Gold prices hit a 28-year high on Thursday, a hair's breadth away from the key $800 mark, stoked by a tumbling dollar, record-high oil and inflation concerns.

Oil fell more than $1 on Thursday as investors cashed in on a new peak of $96 a barrel struck following a sharp decline in U.S. crude stocks and the U.S. Federal Reserve's interest rate cut the previous day.

The dollar retreated against the yen while other high-yielding currencies tumbled on Thursday, as investors backed out of riskier assets on renewed worries about troubles in the global financial sector.

A suicide attack on an Air Force bus killed eight people on Thursday as security forces said they wiped out up to 70 militants in northwest Pakistan, fuelling talk President Pervez Musharraf would invoke emergency powers to put off elections.

International Business Machines Corp is launching a major initiative to drive sales in the data security market, including $1.5 billion in spending next year on marketing and product development, the Wall Street Journal reported Thursday in its online edition.

VMware Inc, a global leader in virtualization software, said on Thursday it hopes to expand rapidly in China, a market where it has only recently established a toehold.

Nine privacy and consumer organizations asked the Federal Trade Commission on Wednesday to create a do not track list for Internet users who don't want their online activities tracked, stored and used by advertising networks.

Microsoft Corp's Windows Vista is starting to see mass adoption from businesses nearly a year after it was released, the company said while predicting a strong first holiday season for the product.