UNITED KINGDOM

In a large, high-ceilinged office adorned with dark damask wallpaper, 59-year-old Chris Gilbert sits below two opulent chandeliers, talking with enthusiasm about the marble producing company he set up at the start of the year.

Stock index futures eased on Friday after a three-day Wall Street rally as investors awaited a closely watched monthly report on employment, which is expected to show moderate gains after last month's flat reading.

Equities were expected to steady on Friday after sharp gains in the previous session, with futures for the S&P 500 staying flat, for the Dow Jones gaining 0.08 percent and for the Nasdaq 100 falling 0.07 percent.

Credit rating agency Moody's downgraded Britain's part-nationalized banks Lloyds and Royal Bank of Scotland on Friday, although Britain's finance minister said UK banks were well-placed to cope with a European debt crisis.

While the United Kingdom has finally joined the rest of Europe in first-class dining -- just look at all the mouth-watering dishes Steve Coogan puts away in The Trip -- the old joke was that airplane food was the national cuisine of England. And it's that world of tinned vegetables and pork pies that made a foodie out of chef and author Nigel Slater, whose memoir is the basis for Toast.

Abdulfattah John Jandali never met the son he gave up for adoption approximately 50 years ago, but he knew a man called Steve Jobs was a great innovator.

Here are some key quotes from Steve Jobs, the legendary co-founder and former chief executive of Apple Inc (AAPL.O), who died on Wednesday after a years-long battle with cancer.

AstraZeneca Plc said on Thursday it will cut about 400 jobs from its U.S. commercial business as Britain's second-largest drugmaker seeks to reduce costs.

Singer Shakira has a long history of working for education opportunities for Latino children.

Shares of OCZ Technology Group (OCZ.O) rose almost 19 percent in early morning trade on Thursday, a day after the computer memory and storage hardware maker raised its full-year revenue outlook and said it will acquire the UK design team of PLX Technology Inc (PLXT.O).

Rooney Jr.’s uncle Richie, as well as Motherwell midfielder Steve Jennings were similarly arrested.

Microsoft has released a trailer highlighting the perks of the Xbox's latest transformation from a games console into a full- fledged multimedia venture that's brings cable television to the 360 console.

Ghana is likely to miss its target of boosting oil production to 120,000 barrels per day by the end of the year due to technical challenges, the head of state oil company GNPC said on Thursday, marking a second delay.

The Archbishop Bishop of Canterbury, Rowan Williams, wants to meet Zimbabwe's President Robert Mugabe during his visit to Africa and call on him to end a violent suppression of the Anglican Church and its priests in the country.

The European Central Bank reinstated some of its most potent crisis-fighting tools on Thursday in response to intensifying euro zone troubles, but opted to keep interest rates at 1.5 percent despite some of the bank's policymakers calling for cuts.

The Bank of England will spend 75 billion pounds more of newly-created money to shield Britain's economy from the euro zone debt crisis and keep a faltering recovery going, opting for an early, dramatic move to maximize the impact.

U.S. aerospace and defense contractor Lockheed Martin said on Thursday it will offer final assembly of the F-35 fighter to Japanese firms in a bid for a defense contract from Tokyo.

Top seed Rafa Nadal ran hard-serving Canadian Milos Raonic ragged in a 7-5 6-3 victory to secure a place in the quarter-finals of the Japan Open on Thursday.

The Bank of England has launched a second round of quantitative easing to defend Britain's faltering economy against the euro zone debt crisis, pledging to buy 75 billion pounds ($114.8 billion) of assets with new money in a dramatic move to stave off recession.

Siri, iPhone 4S' new voice recognition software, was first used by the government before focusing on consumer applications.

The complicated love affairs of Dr. Conrad Murray, Michael Jackson's personal doctor, became public at the high-profile involuntary manslaughter trial of the doctor when, on Tuesday, Oct. 4, the doctor's three mistresses took the witness stand.