IBT Staff Reporter

Halliburton Co has won a broad five-year oilfield service contract from Saudi Aramco to develop wells in the world's largest oil field, South Ghawar, the company said on Friday.

AIG, the giant insurer bailed out by the U.S. government, posted its second straight quarterly profit, helped by recovery in the value of its investments, but its underlying business remained weak and its shares fell.

The U.S. jobless rate unexpectedly jumped to 10.2 percent last month, a 26-1/2-year high, adding to pressure on the Obama administration to do more to tackle unemployment even as signs of recovery mount.

U.S. President Barack Obama will seek to reinforce the U.S. desire for more balanced global growth during his trip to Asia this month, administration officials said on Friday.

R&B singer Rihanna broke her silence on Friday about the night her ex-boyfriend Chris Brown attacked her, saying he had bitten her, put her in a headlock and left her bleeding and swollen.

The Michael Jackson concert film This Is It has crossed the $100 million mark at international box offices as it enters its second weekend in theaters, the studio behind the movie said on Friday.

U.S. stocks rose 3 percent for the week after ending Friday's session slightly higher, shrugging off government data showing the unemployment rate hit 10.2 percent -- the highest in 26-1/2 years.

Senator Bernie Sanders on Friday introduced legislation that would make the U.S. Treasury Department identify and break up financial institutions that are too big to fail.

Apple garnered record share of the smartphone market through the third quarter, hitting 17 percent, but was overtaken by Blackberry maker Research in Motion, IDC said in its latest report.

More than 25 NATO and Afghan troops were wounded during a search Friday for two missing U.S. paratroopers in western Afghanistan, the NATO-led force said.

Singer Beyonce scooped three prizes at the MTV Europe Music Awards on Thursday at a ceremony in Berlin marking the 20th anniversary of the fall of the wall that once divided the city.

Seven black-and-white photographs of the Beatles sitting on a grassy field, taken by a teenage girl on the last day of filming for their movie Help!, will be sold next week, the auctioneer said.

U.S. President Barack Obama on Friday listed a range of fresh options being considered by the White House to spur growth after sobering news that unemployment spiked to a 26 1/2-year peak last month.

Puerto-Rican hip-hop duo Calle 13 won five Latin Grammy awards on Thursday, including the coveted Album of the Year, helping cement their reputation as being among the vanguard of alternative reggaeton music.

U.S. stocks ended slightly higher on Friday, shrugging off government data showing the unemployment rate rose to more than 10 percent.

Wireless LAN vendor Aruba Networks Inc said it will pay Motorola Inc $19.8 million to settle certain long-drawn patent disputes that were a drag on Aruba's earnings.

The U.S. Federal Communications Commission on Thursday gave final approval to AT&T Inc's $944 million bid to buy Centennial Communications Corp.

Beauty pageant winner Miss England gave up her title on Friday after reports she had been involved in a nightclub brawl with another beauty queen.

Home goods retailer A.C. Moore Arts & Crafts Inc posted a wider-than-expected third-quarter loss as same-store sales fell and increased promotional activities hurt margins, sending its shares down as much as 18 percent.

U.S. network equipment maker Cisco Systems Inc faces a touch choice as the Monday deadline approaches for its $3 billion tender offer for Norwegian video conferencing company Tandberg ASA.

General Motors Co said on Friday the head of its European operations, Carl-Peter Forster, is leaving, three days after the automaker's decision to scrap a planned sale of its Opel unit.

President Barack Obama said on Friday the jump in the unemployment rate to 10.2 percent in October was a sobering figure that underscored the economic challenges ahead.

Harvard Business School is sending 28 percent of its 2009 graduating class onto careers in finance, a mildly bullish sign for the economy, said Ray Soifer, an independent bank consultant.

he U.S. unemployment rate, which rose more than expected in October to 10.2 percent, confirms a deeper and more protracted problem in the labor market, Mohamed El-Erian, chief executive of bond giant Pacific Investment Management Co (PIMCO), said in an interview on Friday.

U.S. stocks barely budged in a choppy trading session on Friday, lifted by several broker upgrades that offset disappointing data showing the unemployment rate rose to its highest in more than 26 years.

French nuclear reactor builder Areva is to decide the buyer for its transmission and distribution (T&D) business mid-November, with bidders sending in final offers this Monday.

Canada's Gold Wheaton Gold Corp said its Barbados unit agreed with First Uranium Corp to buy gold from its South African unit for an initial payment of $50 million.

Air Canada reported a quarterly net profit on Friday and said it sees signs the bottom of the recession is behind it although it does not expect a full recovery for another 12 to 18 months.

Third quarter sales at French public works group Eiffage slipped 1.1 percent as construction of new offices in France remained weak.