UNITED STATES

Stocks rose on Friday, on course to snap a six-session losing streak, as a buoyant start to the holiday shopping season helped offset fears about the euro zone's debt crisis after another leap in Italian bond yields.

Reputed mafia boss Salvatore Montagna, 40, was found murdered on Thursday outside of Montreal. His body was found in the Assomption River in Charlemagne, northeast of the city.

Mitt Romney, the former governor of Massachusetts and a front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination, has been accused of flip-flopping on a number of issues. So what are his political positions?

Unnerved by a second profit warning in a month, investors sent HTC Corp shares tumbling for a second straight day on Friday on concern the world's No.4 smartphone maker may be running out of ideas in an increasingly competitive market.

Stock index futures pointed to a seventh straight session of losses on Friday, their longest losing streak in four months, as fears about the euro zone's debt crisis overshadowed what appeared to be a buoyant start to the holiday shopping season.

Indian Rupee gained Thursday, breaking an eight-session losing streak, after the country's central bank, Reserve Bank of India (RBI), took several measures to stem the fall of rupee against the greenback.

The smartphone market is seeing a rapid growth as new devices are being released every now and then. Apart from the advanced specifications, the manufacturers are increasing the screen size of smartphones.

The top pre-market NASDAQ Stock Market gainers are: Pozen, Transcept Pharmaceuticals, Yahoo, Infosys, and Research In Motion. The top pre-market NASDAQ Stock Market losers are: ASM International, ARM Holdings, Randgold Resources, ASML Holding, and Rediff.com India.

A global accounting rule that was rehashed under pressure from policymakers in the financial crisis has to be revised, sparking industry fears it could make standard setters vulnerable again to political influence.

Stock index futures fell on Friday with equities eyeing a seventh straight session of losses, their longest losing streak in four months, as investor fret about global growth and the euro zone's debt crisis.

Apple Inc.'s customers were able to get $101-off on MacBook Pro, MacBook Air and iMacs, $41-off on the first-generation iPad, $21-off on the iPod touch and $11-off on the iPod nano for Friday. This is unchanged from the deals announced last year.

The year 2011 is coming on an end and as the year comes closer to its last days; it’s time for us to look back at the happenings in the previous 12 months.

The iPhone 4S, the final gadget unveiled during Apple co-founder Steve Jobs' lifetime, hit Indian stores on Friday with a starting price of 44,500 rupees.

Gold prices fell Friday in what appeared to be their second straight weekly retreat in the face of a Eurozone crisis, which after two years has yet to be contained, let alone solved, and now threatens Europe's financial liquidity.

Japan's core consumer prices fell for the first time in four months in the year to October after a cigarette tax hike a year ago dropped out from calculations revealing persistent deflation caused by chronically weak domestic demand.

Olympus Corp said on Friday a Japanese investor expanded the scope of a shareholder lawsuit against former and current executives at the scandal-ridden company, whose shares have slumped 60 percent in six weeks.

Occupy Wall Street protesters are aiming their new target: Black Friday

Mark Pearson, head of the OECD health division attributes the higher prices to lack of ‘an effective government mechanism that acts to keep prices down.’ That's simply not there in the U.S. system. So it's a structural defect, he said.

Essar Energy plc has been adjudged the fastest growing energy company in Platts 50 fastest growing of the Top 250 Energy Companies 2011.

American department store chain, JC Penney has posted their Black Friday deals for 2011. The Texas-based company will be opening its door by 4:00 AM and will be giving out free Disney snow globes to the early shoppers.

An assassination plot against Trinidad and Tobago Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar and several ministers was foiled by local security forces.