IBT Staff Reporter

Vivendi is expected to post higher revenues and operating profit for 2009 than a year earlier, even as its music division struggles and its telecommunications units face more intense competition.

A major winter storm in the East has caused the New York City area's three major airports to cancel more than 1,000 flights Friday, the Associated Press reported citing an airport spokesman.

3-D films face new test with Burton's Tim Burton believes author Lewis Carroll's 19th century story, Alice's Adventures In Wonderland, screamed out for a 3-D film because of its surreal elements, or what the director calls its trippyness.

Sales of previously owned homes in the United States unexpectedly plunged in January, an industry survey showed on Friday, fresh evidence the housing market has yet to find stable ground.

Oil rose toward $79 a barrel on Friday, after sliding more than 2 percent the previous session, as an upwards revision in U.S. gross domestic product for the fourth quarter helped revive lackluster sentiment.

The U.S. stock market is trading slightly down in early Friday trading, showing little enthusiasm over the revised Gross Domestic Product (GDP) report.

After a seven-hour healthcare summit that did little to change Republican hearts and minds, President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats face a challenge on Friday in deciding their next moves to reform the costly U.S. system.

Billionaire hedge fund investor John Paulson and other investors are bidding on land they will sell to lot-strapped homebuilders even as the housing market remains uncertain, according to sources familiar with the matter.

U.S. mortgage rates rose for the first time in three weeks, leaping above 5 percent, a key level that could suppress demand for home loans, a closely watched mortgage survey showed on Thursday.

A major snow storm struck the Northeast, leaving disruptions in air and road travel and caused a major pile-up in the central part of the state.

Freddie Mac, the second-largest U.S. home funding company, said on Friday its mortgage investment portfolio shrank in January, while delinquencies on loans it guarantees accelerated.

Greece's prime minister called on Friday for more solidarity from the European Union over the country's debt crisis and announced plans to visit Germany, whose backing would be vital for any EU financial aid.

Prime Minister George Papandreou on Friday vowed to ignore the political costs and take drastic measures to pull Greece out of a debt crisis threatening the stability of the euro zone.

For many years, surgery has been the preferred way to clear away dangerous fatty deposits in neck arteries that can cause strokes.

Kim Yuna dissolved into tears after she obliterated the opposition to become the first South Korean to win an Olympic figure skating gold medal, while a grieving Joannie Rochette melted millions of hearts with a display of sheer courage.

Commentators in both India and Pakistan greeted on Friday the first official talks between their countries since the 2008 Mumbai attacks with a degree of cynicism even though no breakthrough had been expected.

At least 14 people were killed and 32 wounded in Taliban attacks in Kabul on Friday, officials said, the latest audacious assault in the Afghan capital despite a renewed push against the insurgents.

American International Group Inc has decided not to use securitized U.S. life insurance policies to repay the U.S. government after a $182.3 billion rescue, a source familiar with the matter said on Friday.

Taliban fighters opened fire, hurled grenades and staged suicide bombings in central Kabul on Friday, killing at least 16 people in defiance of the Western-backed government and a NATO offensive.

Toyota Motor Corp President Akio Toyoda had a cordial and open meeting on Thursday with Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood before thanking workers in Kentucky for supporting him during his appearance before Congress.

A second major snow storm struck the Northeast, leaving at least 700,000 homes and businesses without power, and all New York City public schools closed for the day.

Stock index futures pointed to a flat to slightly higher open on Friday after the government said the U.S. economy expanded more than initially thought in the fourth quarter of last year.

The economy grew a touch faster than initially thought in the fourth quarter as businesses drew down inventories at a much slower pace and boosted investment, a government report showed on Friday.

Lloyds , Britain's largest retail bank, suffered another big loss last year as it took a 24 billion pounds ($37 billion) hit from loans that soured, mostly assets inherited from its controversial takeover of rival HBOS.

U.S. authorities are probing individuals close to NIR Group on whether the U.S. hedge fund firm paid kickbacks to outsiders to inflate the value of its holdings, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter.

The U.S. economy grew faster than initially thought in the fourth quarter as businesses drew down inventories at a much slower pace and boosted investment, a government report showed on Friday.

Stock index futures were slightly higher on Friday as investors looked ahead to a raft of data, including economic growth, home sales and manufacturing after a disappointing week so far for the economy.

Oil held around $78 a barrel on Friday after sliding more than 2 percent the day before as traders mulled recovery prospects for the United States, the world's top energy consumer, ahead of economic data.

The tests of Daiichi Sankyo Co Ltd's CS 8958 or laninamivir show one inhaled dose worked better than Tamiflu to keep mice alive when infected with a normally deadly dose.