Microsoft Corp's Xbox Live was back up on Friday while Sony Corp's PlayStation Network remained offline for a second day after a hacker group claimed responsibility for attacking the two Internet gaming services.

China's Dalian Wanda Group Co, whose real estate arm just raised about $3.7 billion in a Hong Kong share sale, said on Friday it has bought a controlling stake in 99Bill Corp, a Chinese third-party payment processor similar to PayPal.

Government-owned Japan Post Holdings Co Ltd [IPO-JAPP.T] said it plans to list in the second half of the next business year and its bank and insurance units will go public at the same time, in what could be the biggest IPO of Japanese state enterprises in two decades.

Amazon.com Inc said on Friday it drew more than 10 million new members to its Prime shipping and digital content service over the holidays and intends to offer one-hour shipping to more cities in 2015.

Wall Street was generally calmer in 2014 than in previous years, but that doesn't mean the stock market was devoid of drama. Big selloffs in biotechnology and social media stocks had strategists predicting doom in the spring, and the plunge in oil prices has clouded the outlook for the coming year.

The world's two largest credit and debit card companies, Visa Inc and MasterCard Inc, said on Friday they could no longer support bank cards being used in Crimea, following U.S. sanctions imposed earlier this month.

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered his government on Wednesday to rein in rising vodka prices, as he battles to preserve his popularity amid an aggravating economic crisis.

U.S. electric car maker Tesla Motors Inc will relaunch its Roadster model with a new battery pack that will increase the distance the car can travel on a single charge by nearly two-thirds to more than 400 miles.

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 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.

U.S. stocks ended higher on Friday, with both the Dow and S&P 500 closing at records in a broad rally, though trading was light with many market participants still out for the Christmas holiday.

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.

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.

Toshiba Corp will decide during the next business year from April on where to build an additional memory chip plant and will consider overseas locations for the facility, Chief Executive Hisao Tanaka said on Friday.

BYD Co Ltd 002594.SZ(1211.HK), the Chinese carmaker backed by Warren Buffett, said on Wednesday its chairman has increased his stake in the company and may buy more shares as a sign of confidence following the stock's record slump last week.

Oil edged above $60 a barrel on Friday as unrest in Libya cut supplies, offsetting a growing supply glut in top consumer the United States and weak imports by Japan.

"Star Trek 3," the latest film in the intergalactic franchise featuring Captain Kirk and the crew of the USS Enterprise, will open in U.S. theaters on July 8, 2016, Paramount Pictures said on Tuesday.

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.

Russia's ruble rose on Friday to its strongest levels in more than three weeks, in a sharp rebound from its recent all-time lows, after the government ordered exporters to sell some of their hard currency revenues.

Hyundai Motor and affiliate Kia Motors promoted younger executives on Friday, in moves analysts said would help smoothen an eventual leadership succession at the family-owned conglomerate.

"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.

The dollar edged up against the yen on Friday in light bargain-hunting following two sessions of losses, with some markets slowly getting into gear after the Christmas holiday.

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.