IBT Staff Reporter

Jessica Simpson's ex-husband, Nick Lachey, spoke out over the bad publicity she's been getting over her new curves.

On Friday Iraq began sealing its borders, halting air traffic and ordering overnight curfews in some of its largest cities on the eve of its nationwide provincial elections.

Taylor Swift will launch her first nationwide tour called Fearless, which will take her to 52 cities in 38 states beginning Feb. 10 in San Antonio and stretching through the spring, summer and fall in the United States and Canada.

According to the Alaska Volcano Observatory website Friday, Unrest at Redoubt Volcano continues, though no eruption has occurred yet, staff are monitoring on a 24-hour watch.

Evan Rachel Wood, who plays Mickey' s daughter Stephanie in the movie Wrestler, says she feels disrespected by kissing rumors she supposedly had with her co-star Mickey Rourke.

Amy Winehouse, currently on holiday in the Caribbean, was burgled in her north London apartment – where a set of valuable guitars and recording equipment were stolen, her spokesman said Friday.

New York attorney general Andrew Cuomo may demand the return of the $4 billion paid in bonuses by Merrill Lynch & Co. to its executives in December, Bloomberg reported quoting an anonymous source.

Securities regulators are likely to investigate issues surrounding the health of Apple chief executive Steve Jobs, according to a report on Friday.

Reunited jam band Phish tickets went on sale Friday morning online and also around the country, with tickets already sold out for the June 6 concert at the Asheville Civic Center arena.

My popularity on television and the internet has led a very small money manager to use his popular financial blog to promote his fledgling business by attacking the recent poor

Jessica Simpson made a positive comeback on Thursday night, following a week of media frenzy over her figure.

Rio Tinto Group agreed to sell assets in Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay to Vale de Rio Doce for $1.6 billion in cash, the company said in a statement Friday.

Several important Japanese indicators were released overnight including industrial production, unemployment rate and inflation (see below for details). The releases make horrible reading.

Exxon Mobil Corp. said its fourth-quarter net income fell 33 percent to $7.82 billion, on lower oil prices in the last months of 2008, but managed to break its own profit record for a U.S. company.

Looking ahead, the chairman of Swiss pharmaceuticals company Roche Holding said Friday it expects to have financing ready when its needed in the company's hostile takeover bid for U.S.-based Genentech.

Bonus payments on Wall St. have become controversial in the midst of an economic crisis with a top level executive today saying that they are reasonable but need changes to ensure the long-term interests of the business.

Overall, the dollar continues to strengthen overnight. The only exception among the majors is the pound, which rose after some very good economic reports coming from the U.K. Ahead, the market is likely to become very volatile, especially during the U.S. open, when some important releases are scheduled.

Release Explanation: Measures the number of jobs created, or the percentage of employed/unemployed in the labor market. Over time the Employment Data will affect all economic releases, it does however take time for labor trends to form.

Release Explanation: CPI measures the average price of a fixed market basket of goods and services purchased by consumers, and therefore give an overall read of Inflationary pressures. It is the most widely used Inflation indicator of Central Banks

On Thursday Somali pirates hijacked a tanker and its crew of 12 Filipinos and one Indonesian in the Gulf of Aden, a diplomat said.

On Thursday a representative for actor Patrick Swayze denied widespread reports that the actor had halted treatment for pancreatic cancer after doctors told him there was nothing more to be done.

Indian police alleged Thursday that two auditors working for an Indian unit of PriceWaterhouseCoopers colluded with the company's Chairman to perpetrate fraud at Satyam Computer Services.

Pharmaceutical firms added to uncertainty in their industry on Thursday after Astrazeneca announced major job cuts and Eli Lilly & Co. reported a fourth quarter loss.

The Swiss government told investment bank UBS it may have to slash bonuses by more than 80 percent after taking state aid, the Financial Times reports.

Online retailer Amazon.com Inc. recorded higher than expected results during the fourth quarter, as profit grew 8.7 percent.

Royal Dutch Shell Plc posted a fourth quarter net loss of $2.81 billion or 44 cents a share in the fourth quarter

Bank of America is planning to defer 2008 bonus payments to some staff at its capital-markets and investment banking units, the Financial Times reported quoting executives familiar with the matter.

The number of unemployed American workers receiving benefits from the government hit the highest level since 1967, when the government began to keep the records.

Eli Lilly and Co. had a net loss of $3.629 billion in the fourth quarter citing charges from the acquisition of ImClone Systems Inc.