IBT Staff Reporter

Stock index futures pointed to a flat open on Friday as data showed the economic expansion gathered speed in the fourth quarter, though a touch below forecasts.

US Customs and Immigration Services (USCIS) on Thursday said it has got Congressional-mandated cap of 65,000 H1-B visa applications, which is the most sought after by Indian professionals, for the current fiscal.

In a shock announcement, Liverpool confirmed that they rejected an offer from Premiership rivals Chelsea for their star striker Fernando Torres.

Stock index futures were little changed on Friday, with the Dow on track for a ninth straight week of gains, as investors awaited a key reading on economic growth to see if recent gains could be extended.

Amazon.com investors got a wake-up call on Thursday when the world's biggest online retailer said its profit margins were sliding as it spends money on massive new distribution centers and acquisitions.

Budgets for the Metropolitan Adult Education Program (MAEP) have been slashed by 67 percent leading to suspension of many programs from the next academic year.

The euro's rally against the dollar faltered on Friday and stocks opened weaker ahead of U.S. fourth-quarter GDP numbers on profit taking, although both look set to end the week in the black.

Will MTV's controversial teen-age based drama Skins be taken off air amid advertiser and ratings woes as well as ire from media watchdog group?

Stock index futures were little changed on Friday, a day after equities hit a new 29-month high, as investors awaited a key reading on economic growth.

The U.S. economy probably gathered speed in the fourth quarter, with the biggest gain in consumer spending in four years offering the clearest signal yet that a sustainable recovery is under way.

Hedge fund manager John Paulson personally made more than $5 billion in profit in 2010, which may likely be the largest one-year earnings in investment history, the Wall Street Journal said.

Verizon Communications announced its plan to acquire Terremark, an Infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) provider for $1.4 billion in cash to bulwark its everything-as-a-service cloud strategy. The acquisition of Terremark confirms that Verizon has more on its mind than just telecommunications.

Egypt appears to have blocked all access to internet in the midst of anti-government demonstrations. US-based Web site Renesys said it has observed virtually simultaneous withdrawal of all routes to Egyptian networks in the Internet's global routing table, just after mid night, local time.

He cannot believe that they do not want to be featured on the show

Despite the blockade imposed on internet and mobile communication, photos, videos of and responses to the Egypt unrest flood social media sites like Flickr, YouTube and Twitter.

Stock index futures fell on Friday ahead of the release of fourth-quarter U.S. growth data, with futures for the S&P 500, Dow Jones and Nasdaq all down by around 0.2 percent by 4:35 a.m. ET.

Booming demand for smartphones and tablets will help Samsung Electronics Co post better results this year after the world's No.2 mobile phone maker reported its weakest profit in six quarters.

Average annual base pay for the Class of 2010 in the US fell by just 0.7% from 2009, compared to a 3.6% fall in Canada and a 5.2% rise in Australia.

British police arrested five young men on Thursday as they and U.S. authorities conducted searches as part of a probe into Internet activists who carried out cyber attacks against groups they viewed as enemies of the WikiLeaks website.

Egypt's web activists have been brazen critics of the President Hosni Mubarak 30-year rule online. This week's unprecedented protests across Egypt showed they are becoming formidable opponents offline too.

The White House will support legislation ensuring a block of airwaves are used for public safety rather than going to commercial wireless providers, a senior administration official said on Thursday.

Bank of America Corp may give some investment bankers a greater share of their bonus payments in cash for 2010 compared to the previous year, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the situation.

A study from DNS-resolution service OpenDNS, 2010 Report on Web Content Filtering and Phishing details the sites companies were most likely to be blocked last year, be it social networking websites or sites that have a reputation for fostering procrastination.

Lady GaGa does it again with her request for a bodily fluid scent

Japanese leaders vowed on Friday to push ahead with tax reforms needed to rein in bulging public debt, but doubts persisted over whether the government could succeed in the face of a divided parliament.

Automobile major General Motors Thursday said that it plans to bring iconic budget friendly sports car Camaro to India.

Escalating tensions and persistent protests have now prompted the government of Egypt to completely block all access to internet as well as SMS services.

Japan and the United States faced new pressure to confront their swollen budget deficits as the IMF and rating agencies demanded more evidence they can bring their public debts under control.

Ford Motor Co is expected to post its biggest annual profit in a decade on Friday, after lowering operating costs and increasing sales to make it No. 2 in the U.S. market.