UNITED STATES

Sprint Nextel, the third largest wireless carrier in the United States, could acquire Ntelos Holdings' wireless business.

The assault of Wikileaks forced US military to ban the usage of CDs, DVDs and USB flash drives on its internal network, SIPRNET, reports suggest. The latest move is likely to force Pentagon to revert to using a rather conventional data-transfer medium. Memos sent out earlier this week by the defense department also warn of court martial to military personnel found in violation of the order.

One of China's largest social networking companies, Oak Pacific Interactive, has hired investment banks for an initial public offering in the United States next year, the first in a rush of Chinese Facebook clones looking to list.

One of China's largest social networking companies, Oak Pacific Interactive, has hired investment banks for an initial public offering in the United States in the first half of next year, sources close to the matter told Reuters on Friday.

WikiLeaks said on Friday it had no links to cyber attacks on global companies seen as enemies of the website and neither supported nor condemned the online campaign.

Consumer electronics maker Panasonic Corp said on Friday it sees no strong recovery in year-end sales in North America and Europe, but expects to pull its loss-making TV unit into the black in the January-March quarter.

World stocks edged higher on Friday as investors grew more confident about the prospect for economic recovery following robust U.S. and Chinese data while Treasuries stabilized after a sell-off earlier this week.

Futures for the Dow Jones industrial average, the S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 rise 0.1 to 0.3 percent, pointing to a firmer start on Wall Street on Friday.

Chinese imports and exports jumped in November, bank lending topped forecasts and property investment powered ahead, a series of numbers that could clear the way for the central bank to raise interest rates as soon as this weekend.

U.S. aviation regulators are drafting enhanced inspection mandates to step up their examinations of more than 600 Boeing Co's 757 airplanes worldwide, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

A strong turnout by shoppers for Black Friday boosted U.S. video game sales 8 percent last month, marking the strongest November on record, but sales for the whole year are likely to be flat at best, according to retail research firm NPD Group.

Japanese stocks slipped from a seven-month high on Friday on profit taking, though were poised to outperform the rest of Asia this week, while U.S. Treasuries were steady on the view yields had risen too high, too quickly.

China's imports and exports were much stronger than expected in November, robust numbers that could clear the way for the central bank to raise interest rates as soon as this weekend.

Why did China avoid a steep recession and bounced back relatively quickly? The answer is its massive fiscal stimulus, according to Richard Koo.

China chose to make an example of Nobel Peace Prize winner Liu Xiaobo by jailing him for 11 years last year during a wider crackdown on dissidents, Spain's El Pais newspaper said on Thursday, citing U.S. diplomatic cables obtained by WikiLeaks.

Drugmaker Pfizer hired investigators to find evidence of corruption against the Nigerian attorney general to convince him to drop legal action against the company over a drug trial involving children, the Guardian newspaper reported, citing U.S. diplomatic cables made public by WikiLeaks.

House Democrats are rebelling against Obama's tax cut compromise with the Republicans. On Wednesday, they essentially rejected it in its current form by passing a non-binding resolution to block it from coming to the House floor.

A group of former WikiLeaks collaborators who quit the project are to launch a new campaigning site next week to protest against its founder, a Swedish newspaper said on Thursday.

New shares of Chinese online video broadcasting company Youku (NYSE:YOKU) are selling like it's 1999.

Four companies will join the benchmark S&P 500 index after the closing bell on December 17, S&P said in a statement on Thursday.

A strong turnout by shoppers for Black Friday boosted U.S. video game sales 8 percent last month, marking the strongest November on record, but sales for the whole year are likely to be flat at best, according to retail research firm NPD Group.