COMPANIES

New JPMorgan fund will buy distressed real estate debt, even though many critics believe that the firm itself is, in part, responsible for much of the distressed real estate in the U.S.

Fifty-four percent of Verizon's Android and BlackBerry users plan to switch to the iPhone when it becomes available on Feb. 10, according to a survey by United Sample Inc.

JPMorgan Chase & Co executives stood by silently as their client Bernard Madoff ran his epic Ponzi scheme, hoping to protect the bank's investments and continue doing business with him, a newly released $6.4 billion lawsuit claims.

The political chaos in Egypt and floods around the world have sent cotton prices skyrocketing.

JPMorgan Chase & Co executives were concerned that Bernard Madoff was running a Ponzi scheme, but they silently stood by for years to protect the bank's investments, the trustee for Madoff's investors said.

Royal Dutch Shell is facing opposition to its plans to seek shale gas in South Africa's semi-desert Karoo region, as farmers fear methods used to extract it will contaminate water and harm the environment.

Economic growth in the six-nation Central African CEMAC bloc will reach 4.8 percent in 2011, up from 4 percent last year, the grouping's regional central bank said on Thursday.

Japan's Kansai Paint said on Thursday it now owns nearly 69 percent of Freeworld Coatings, likely solidifying its bid to take over the South African paint firm.

Nestle, the world's biggest food group, said on Thursday it would invest 1 billion Swiss francs expanding capacity in Africa over the next two years.

Answers Corp, owner of the popular Q&A website, agreed to be bought by private-equity firm Summit Partners for about $127 million in cash.

Protests of addictive pescription drugs such as oxycontin and suboxone could affect pharamceuticals shares.

Yum Brands Inc posted a quarterly profit that topped Wall Street's estimate, boosted by sales growth in China, its largest market, though labor and food costs there surged.

Yum Brands Inc forecast rising 2011 labor and food costs in China and said that modestly raising prices in its top growth market would help mitigate that pressure.

BJ's Wholesale Club Inc said it may put itself up for sale, under pressure from a private equity firm that may make a hostile bid.

Workers union sues Bank of America and its Countrywide unit for not disclosing mortgage crisis sooner

British telecommunications company BT Group plc reported its highest share of DSL broadband net additions for eight years and said pretax profit for the third quarter more than doubled from last year.

Bank of America Corp was hit with a lawsuit on Wednesday claiming the lending giant hid foreclosure problems that eventually led to a decline in its share price.

Actor Corbin Bernsen has purchased a 75-year-old tudor-style house in Valley Village with his wife, actress and interior designer Amanda Pays.

Match.com, an operating business of IAC (Nasdaq: IACI), purchased OkCupid this morning for $50 million in cash, plus potential future payments contingent upon performance.

Iran has witnessed a dramatic increase in executions so far in 2011, United Nations human rights chief Navi Pillay said Wednesday and her office said the rate was three times that of last year.

South African group Pioneer Food said on Wednesday it has withdrawn its offer to buy unlisted wine and spirits maker KWV, after the deal failed to gain support from some KWV shareholders.

South African Mining Minister Susan Shabangu said on Wednesday the government would act to ensure sufficient coal supplies for power generation, but urged industry to sort out the supply problem first.

South African petroleum company Engen is looking to expand in Mauritius after it concluded an agreement on Tuesday to buy Chevron's business in the Indian Ocean island, it said on Wednesday.

Standard Chartered has promoted the head of transaction banking for China to lead the same division in Africa, according to a person familiar with the matter.

Vodacom, South Africa's largest mobile phone operator, overcame stiff competition to post a 6 percent rise in third-quarter sales, boosted by a surge in mobile data and strong prepaid growth.

A cocoa export ban in Ivory Coast and a liquidity shortage since incumbent Laurent Gbagbo seized the central bank's local branch has left the top grower's cocoa industry in chaos, with beans piling up on farms or being smuggled out, farmers said on Wednesday.

K&L Gates has opened a new office in Brussels, Belgium, in its bid to expand its presence in Europe and has poached on two partners from McDermott Will & Emery to lead the office.

Colorado's Secretary of State Scott Gessler has given up his plan of moonlighting at his old law firm to supplement his government salary, after it prompted widespread calls for his resignation.

Colleen R. LaRose, a Pennsylvania woman also known as 'Jihad Jane,' has pleaded guilty to conspiring to murder a Swedish cartoonist, providing material support to terrorists, and other criminal charges