U.S. retailers miss fewer Christmas deadlines: early surveys

Major U.S. retailers missed fewer Christmas deliveries this year, according to two small, early surveys released on Friday, partly reflecting a year's worth of investments made to avoid 2013's last-minute shipping debacle.


Oil declines amid stronger dollar, crude oversupply in U.S.

Oil prices fell Friday, tumbling as the dollar strengthened and as a supply glut in top consumer, the United States, trumped worries about falling production from Libya.

China raises Nepal aid five-fold in regional diplomacy push

China will increase official aid to Nepal by more than five times from fiscal 2015-16, officials said on Friday, to develop infrastructure in the landlocked nation where regional rival India has long wielded political influence.

Budget pressure unlikely to deflect Iran from nuclear goals

A big oil price slide will hurt Iran's attempts to rescue battered living standards, but economic pain is unlikely to soften its stance in nuclear talks or end aid to allies such as Syria, matters seen by its ruling clerics as strategic priorities.


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Procrastinating holiday shoppers can now grab one of Miami’s most iconic two-seaters: the all-white 1986 Ferrari Testarossa driven by TV cops "Sonny" Crockett and Ricardo "Rico" Tubbs in the hit 1980s series "Miami Vice."
Taylor Swift's album "1989" reclaimed the top spot on the U.S. Billboard 200 chart on Wednesday, besting rapper Nicki Minaj's new release "The Pinkprint."
Saudi Arabia's finance minister said there was no need for the kingdom to create a sovereign wealth fund to manage its oil wealth, rebuffing suggestions by prominent officials and businessmen.
"The Interview," the Sony Pictures film about a fictional plot to assassinate North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, opened in more than 300 movie theaters across the United States on Christmas Day, drawing many sell-out audiences and statements by patrons that they were championing freedom of expression.
Brent crude futures held above $60 a barrel on Friday as strong U.S. economic data supported the market, but oil prices were track for their fifth straight weekly decline as a building supply glut capped gains.
Microsoft Corp's Xbox Live and Sony Corp's PlayStation Networks experienced user connection problems on Christmas Day, for which a hacker group claimed responsibility.
Patent risk management company RPX Corp said on Tuesday it would buy patents owned by Apple Inc and other firms for $900 million, helping to further scale back lawsuits over smartphone technology.
Germany's HeidelbergCement AG (HEIG.DE) is negotiating to sell Hanson Building Products Ltd, a maker of concrete and clay building products, to private equity firm Lone Star Funds, according to people familiar with the matter.
Bosnian lender Bobar Banka has been shut after its shareholders failed to come up with a recovery plan, the regional banking agency said, leaving its clients, including major state firms, at risk of losing some of their 250 million Bosnian marka ($156 million) in deposits.
Global smartphone leader Samsung Electronics Co Ltd is planning a new product launch next year based on its own Tizen operating system, the South Korean giant's strategic push to free itself from Android and blaze its own software path.