IBT Staff Reporter

China intends to boost its economic ties with Africa, which is already worth about $100 billion, according to a report by the government.

The US Department of Energy has released a critical materials strategy based on extensive research by the Department during the past year examining the role of earth metals and other materials in the clean energy economy.

Business schools are increasingly focusing on developing a broad world view and tolerance for cultural differences in MBA participants in a variety of ways through their curricula and otherwise.

South Korean automakers Hyundai and Kia Motors and German auto mobile giant Volkswagen won more top safety pick awards than any other brands in 2010, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety said.

In an extention of the TripAdvisor's controversial 'Trip Friends' feature on Facebook, the social networking site is now offering 'instant personalisation' service, which will highlight Facebook friends' holiday plans.

Following are the companies that have declared dividends on Wednesday, Dec. 22: Williams-Sonoma, MSC Industrial Direct, RF Industries, Lindsay, Suffolk Bancorp, First of Long Island, Bank of Commerce, and Acme United.

Airgas Inc has rejected yet another takeover offer from rival industrial gas producer Air Products and Chemicals Inc , saying a sweetened $5.9 billion bid is just not enough.

Shares in Allied Irish Banks fell 10 percent on Thursday ahead of a state capital injection that will see the effective nationalization of what was once Ireland's largest listed lender.

Leonardo DiCaprio has been named the highest-grossing Hollywood star of 2010.

Stock index futures were little changed in light volume on Thursday ahead of a busy day for economic data as Wall Street approached a fourth straight week of gains.

US president Barack Obama welcomed the US Senate's ratification of the new strategic arms reduction treaty between the country and its former cold-war rival Russia. The President maintained that Wednesday's vote proves that Washington is not headed for 'more partisanship and more gridlock'.

Once a Russian spy, later a model posing for an erotic shoot in Agent Provocateur lingerie for Maxim, now in search of promising career in the country's politics -- the flamed-haired beauty, Anna Chapman, has now joined a youth political movement in Russia. The 28-year-old glam-girl is one of 11 alleged Russian secret agents deported by US in July this year.

Stock index futures were little changed in light volume on Thursday ahead of a busy day for economic data as Wall Street approached a fourth straight week of gains.

Oil prices held above $90 a barrel, close to their highest in two years on Thursday, after cold weather boosted demand and U.S. stockpiles shrank.

California-based start up Lookout Mobile Security, a provider of smartphone protection software, said it raised a further $19.5 million in funding led by Index Ventures.

Almost 5 million Britons are expected to go online on Christmas Day and spend over 150 million pounds ($232 million) as they look to grab bargains and beat a rise in January in VAT sales tax, a retail group said on Thursday.

The nomination of Nobel prize-winning economist Peter Diamond to the Federal Reserve's Board was scuttled on Wednesday when the Senate failed to vote on it before adjourning for the year.

He is not in favour of intermingling the story with other Marvel films like 'Thor' and 'Avengers'

World stocks hit their highest level since September 2008 on Thursday while oil held near a two-year peak as favorable U.S. data reinforced expectations economic growth will retain momentum into next year.

She is tangled in an assault case with a staffer at Betty Ford Center

The new structure gives debt-holders a stake and JP Morgan arranges $500 million

Oil prices climbed toward a two-year high on Thursday as cold weather in the United States boosted demand, slashed stockpiles and contributed to a stronger-than-expected rise in fuel consumption in 2010.

Asian shares edged higher on Thursday with gains led by resource-linked stocks, and oil traded just below the two-year high it hit yesterday on cautious but growing optimism of the health of the world economy.

Problems with the euro are being solved, and the single currency will survive, a member of the European Central Bank Governing Council, Marko Kranjec, said on Thursday.

Stock index futures pointed to a flat opening on Wall Street on Thursday, with futures for the S&P 500 down 0.04 percent, Dow Jones futures up 0.01 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.01 percent at 0917 GMT (4:17 a.m. ET).

China is willing to help countries in the euro zone return to economic health and will support the International Monetary Fund element of a bailout package for the bloc, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said on Thursday.

Sony Corp is in talks to buy a Japanese microchip production line from Toshiba Corp for an estimated 50 billion yen ($598 million) to boost its output of chips for cameras and mobile phones, an industry source said on Thursday.

Resources-linked stocks rose and oil climbed toward the $91 per dollar mark for the first time in more than two years after latest U.S. data offered yet another sign that the world's biggest economy is on the mend.

President Barack Obama said on Wednesday that he will work to change the politics of the immigration debate on children of illegal immigrants in 2011 by engaging Republicans and making his case to the American people to pass the DREAM Act.