IBT Staff Reporter

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters Life!) - Want to hear what your favorite pop star or politician sounds like accompanied by the most memorable sound of the soccer World Cup in South Africa -- the droning vuvuzela trumpet?

Morgan Stanley agreed on Thursday to pay $102 million to end an investigation in Massachusetts into unfair lending practices.

Stocks fell on Thursday on worries the economic recovery was slowing, with banks also pressured by congressional negotiations on a financial regulatory overhaul.

Honda Motor Co 's new hybrid car will cost one fifth less than the cheapest hybrid on the Japanese market, according to a newspaper report -- a move that may make hybrids low profit margin models for automakers.

Auto maker Zhejiang Geely said on Thursday it was teaming up with Chinese regional asset manager Daqing State Asset Operation Co in its planned $1.8 billion takeover of Ford Motor Co's Volvo Cars unit.

Ford Motor Co plans to invest $450 million to build a new manufacturing plant in Thailand, with the bulk of the output destined for export markets as part of its expansion in Asia Pacific.

Apple fans lined up overnight by the hundreds outside stores in the United States, Europe and Japan to snap up the latest iPhone, setting a new benchmark in the fast-growing smartphone market.

Mortgage rates dropped in the past week, with 30-year fixed-rate loans tumbling to their lowest level in 39 years, according to a survey released on Thursday by Freddie Mac, the second-largest U.S. mortgage finance company.

The U.S. first-time homebuyer credit, aimed at boosting demand amid the recession, is still beset by significant scamming, though authorities made some progress rooting out fraud, a federal watchdog said.

The United States is urging Syria to open up its markets to U.S. companies' computers and software, but fears over piracy and Internet access restrictions are holding back American technology companies from investing there.

The former Soviet Central Asian republics are at a precarious crossroad today between accomplishing monumental progress, like Kazakhstan, and flirting with disaster and the prospects of civil war, like Kyrgyzstan.

Britain could force internet service providers such as BT, Virgin Media and TalkTalk to reveal whether they restrict access to some websites at peak times while favoring others, regulator Ofcom said.

Hasbro Inc said it is not involved in any talks regarding a potential sale of the company, despite a news report that said it had been in negotiations for a possible leveraged buyout.

Lawmakers on Thursday agreed to boost banks' capital requirements and neared agreement on a derivatives crackdown as they closed in on a historic overhaul of financial regulations.

The Supreme Court on Thursday set aside some convictions of former Enron Corp Chief Executive Jeffrey Skilling and former media baron Conrad Black, a setback for the U.S. Justice Department in some of its biggest corporate fraud prosecutions of the last decade.

British Airways said it planned to recruit over one thousand new cabin crew on lower wages than current staff as it faces possible further strikes by existing flight attendants in August.

Morgan Stanley has agreed to pay $102 million to settle an investigation in Massachusetts into the investment bank's subprime lending practices, a source familiar with the matter said on Thursday.

Dell Inc said on Thursday the company is squarely focused on improving profitability, even as it grapples with rising component costs and volatility in international markets.

The excitement surrounding the new Chinese yuan currency regime has been not been reflected in the non-deliverable forward (NDF) market. The 1-year CNY NDF is only pricing in a 2 percent move in the next 12 months. This is conservative compared to the pricing of the 1-year NDFs in July 2005 when China altered their currency policy from a de-facto peg of 8.2765 yuan per dollar to a managed float.

When Kenyan graduate Roy Wachira, 25, set out to start his first business, he turned to the Internet, whose growth in the east African nation is spawning opportunities unthinkable even a year ago.

The top White House economic advisor said on Thursday world leaders must keep the tentative global recovery on track as Europe headed into this weekend's G20 summit defending plans for heavy cost-cutting.

Lennar Corp , the third-largest U.S. homebuilder, reported higher-than-expected quarterly earnings and affirmed its goal of profitability for the full year.

The top White House economic advisor said on Thursday world leaders must keep the tentative global recovery on track as Europe headed into this weekend's G20 summit defending plans for heavy cost-cutting.

Corrects spelling of 'czar' in first paragraph

The yen rose against the dollar and euro on Thursday as a less optimistic outlook on growth from the U.S. Federal Reserve dented risk appetite, with the single currency further hampered by Greek debt markets.

With its technology already in smartphones like Motorola Inc's Droid X, startup Swype is setting its sights on helping consumers type more easily on billions of phones, including iPhones.

Nokia Oyj will use Linux MeeGo software in its flagship N-series smartphones, hoping the new platform will give it a better chance to battle rivals such as Apple Inc and Google Inc.

The U.S. Supreme Court set aside on Thursday the convictions of former media baron Conrad Black and two ex-colleagues for defrauding shareholders of one-time newspaper publishing giant Hollinger International Inc.

Google Inc won a landmark victory over media companies as a Manhattan federal judge threw out Viacom Inc's $1 billion lawsuit accusing the Internet company of allowing copyrighted videos on its YouTube service without permission.