A fire on Friday at an Amazon.com Inc data center under construction in Virginia was quickly extinguished and all workers at the site left safely, the company and county officials said.

Ellen Pao, a former partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers who has filed a discrimination and retaliation lawsuit against the venture firm, had offered to resign from Kleiner five years before filing her lawsuit, court documents show.

Brazilian industrial output took an unexpected step backward in November as production of durable goods declined sharply, further damping hopes of a recovery in the long-beleaguered sector.

Semiconductor company Silicon Image Inc, whose technology helps streams video between consumer electronic devices, is exploring strategic alternatives, including selling itself, according to people familiar with the matter.

Chinese auto information website operator Bitauto Holdings Ltd said JD.com Inc and Tencent Holdings Ltd would invest about $1.3 billion in the company, sending its shares sharply higher in early trading on Friday.

The People's Bank of China will continue to maintain "prudent" monetary policy in 2015, keeping credit growth stable while having its hands free to fine-tune policy when necessary, the regulator said in an online statement on Friday.

Demands for compensation from Chinese car dealers hit by a market slowdown have become an industry-wide issue, BMW's board member for sales said on Friday, adding relations were not simply about "holding hands and walking into the sunset."

Australian bank Macquarie Group Ltd's aircraft leasing subsidiary is in exclusive talks to buy a portfolio of new planes from Dublin-based lessor AWAS for more than $4 billion, according to people familiar with the matter.

United Airlines (UAL.N) has paid a premium to dump old losing bets on higher oil prices, and is reviewing its strategy for insulating itself from oil market volatility, in a sign of how some airlines' efforts to hedge their fuel costs have backfired.

Fitch Ratings cut its rating on Russia to 'BBB minus' from 'BBB', citing significant deterioration in the country's economic outlook due to the slump in oil prices and falling value of the rouble.

The European Central Bank is considering a hybrid approach to government bond purchases which would combine the ECB buying debt with risk sharing across the euro zone and, in a nod to German qualms, separate purchases by national central banks.

Amazon prides itself on being a company that breaks the rules, but its recent success in Hollywood also reflects an embrace of a more traditional, old-fashioned script.

The London auction scene is gearing up for another big season, with the two biggest auction houses targeting buyers around the world for evening sales in February expected to generate several hundred million pounds.

China will allow online sales of prescription drugs as early as this month, a policy that will open up an over 1 trillion yuan ($161 billion) market to online pharmacy operators like Alibaba Group Holding Ltd and Wal-Mart Stores Inc.

The Keystone XL oil pipeline cleared two hurdles on Friday, setting up a showdown between Congress and President Barack Obama who has raised new questions about the project after more than six years of review.

Citigroup Inc (C.N) this week cut its bonus pool for fixed-income and equity market traders after market revenues plunged during the last two weeks of the year, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Some 20 state attorneys general have joined the federal antitrust investigation of competing bids by Dollar General Corp (DG.N) and Dollar Tree Inc (DLTR.O) to buy Family Dollar Stores Inc (FDO.N), a development that potentially complicates the companies' efforts to win U.S. approval for a deal.

Global oil markets resumed their slide on Friday, with Brent and U.S. crude hitting April 2009 lows and ending down for a seventh straight week, although prices recovered from their lows after a sharp drop in the U.S. oil rig count.

U.S. job growth increased briskly in December, but wages posted their biggest decline in at least eight years in a sign the tightening labor market has yet to give much of a boost to workers.

Investors hope the lower gasoline cost is putting more money in consumers' wallets for spending on apparel and other retail goods. The next two weeks will indicate whether that's happening.

Daimler (DAIGn.DE), maker of Mercedes-Benz and Smart-branded cars, said deliveries rose 11.4 percent in 2014, to a record 1,739,854 cars, thanks to a 30 percent sales jump in China and 25 percent higher registrations of Mercedes compact cars.

Starbucks Corp on Thursday said Chief Operating Officer Troy Alstead, who as finance chief helped lead the coffee chain's extensive restructuring a few years ago, is taking an extended unpaid leave to spend more time with his family.

Tripadvisor (TRIP.O) has agreed to acquire top Dutch online restaurant review and booking sites Iens, the companies said on Thursday, giving the travel website a leading position in the Netherlands.

Sony Corp will delay sales of the PlayStation 4 gaming console in China, originally scheduled for Jan. 11, due to "various factors", the company said in a statement on Thursday.

Activist-investor Starboard Value LP has reiterated that Yahoo Inc (YHOO.O) should consider a merger with AOL Inc (AOL.N) and cut costs to improve profits, spurred by media reports that Yahoo is exploring other large-scale acquisitions.

Google Inc (GOOGL.O) may be moving into the U.S. auto insurance market with a shopping site for people to compare and buy policies, an analyst said on Thursday, as it continues to shift its attention to the automotive industry.

China's transport ministry has banned taxi hailing apps such as Uber Technologies Inc and local rivals Kuaidi Dache and Didi Dache from using cars and drivers without taxi licenses in a bid to regulate the rapidly growing sector.

Apple Inc won the dismissal on Thursday of a lawsuit accusing it of defrauding consumers by selling MacBook laptop computers that contained "logic boards" it knew were defective, and which routinely failed within two years.

China's annual consumer inflation hovered at a near five-year low of 1.5 percent in December, signaling persistent weakness in the economy but giving policymakers more room to ease policy to support growth.

Asian stocks gained on Friday on upbeat expectations for the closely-watched U.S. jobs data while the euro continued to probe fresh nine-year lows against the dollar.