IBT Staff Reporter

Iranian opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi said on Friday he was ready to die for his reformist campaign after a disputed election in June, defying hardline calls for his execution.

Hedge funds making big bets on currencies, commodities and equities are favoured by fund selectors in what is likely to be a more testing 2010 after a bumper year for hedge fund returns.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has serious reservations about allowing shale gas drilling in New York City's watershed, warning of a threat to the drinking water for 9 million people.

Kohlberg Capital Corp has been sued by a Michigan investor who said the investment company taken public in 2006 by a firm affiliated with buyout specialist Jerome Kohlberg fraudulently misstated the value of its portfolio.

Time Warner Cable and News Corp's Fox Networks agreed to a brief extension of their current carriage contract on Thursday to avoid a blackout that would have prevented 13 million U.S. homes from seeing TV shows like The Simpsons and college and NFL football games.

Time Warner Cable and News Corp's Fox Networks Group agreed to a brief extension of their current carriage contract late on Thursday to avoid a blackout that would have prevented 13 million U.S. homes from seeing TV shows like The Simpsons and House as well as college and NFL football games.

The attorney general for Washington D.C. has filed a lawsuit against an AT&T Inc unit, seeking to recover consumers' unused balances on prepaid calling cards.

Following are five big themes likely to dominate thinking of investors and traders in 2010 and the Reuters stories related to them.

The attorney general for Washington, D.C. has filed a lawsuit against an AT&T Inc unit, seeking to recover consumers' unused balances on prepaid calling cards.

Stocks soared this year; Wells Fargo's big pa day; Auto sales reprieve

North Korea called for an end to hostile ties with the United States and an atomic-free peninsula in a New Year message that comes weeks after it indicated it could end its year-long boycott of nuclear disarmament talks.

The CIA vowed on Thursday to avenge the deaths of seven officers in a suicide bombing in Afghanistan and to investigate security breaches that allowed the second deadliest attack in agency history.

U.S. stocks ended 2009 on Thursday with their best gains since 2003, driven by optimism about the economy's recovery and a brighter outlook for profits.

As technology companies make their annual trek to Las Vegas to unveil their coolest gadgets at the Consumer Electronics Show in January, investors are laying bets on another good year for the industry.

Chinese initial public offerings were some of the best U.S. performers of 2009, but also some of the worst, which could make underwriters of these deals more cautious in 2010

President Barack Obama Thursday summoned U.S. intelligence chiefs to a meeting next week to discuss how to prevent a repeat of the attempted bombing of a Detroit-bound airliner on December 25.

The following are some of the major companies planning initial public offerings on the Hong Kong stock exchange

Camulos Partners LP, launched by a former Soros Fund Management trader, was sued by an investor seeking to recover $67 million that was unlawfully seized, according to a Delaware court filing.

India will introduce mobile number portability across the country by March 31, 2010, pushing back its introduction by up to 3 months in parts of the country, the government said in a statement on Thursday.

Entrepreneurs Tina Cannon and Christi Scovel have developed a great way to connect pet owners with veterinarians, but they need to get much more involved in social media in order to get people flocking to their website (PetsMD.com), said experts.

PepsiCo Inc (PEP.N) made public on Thursday a financial forecast prepared by PepsiAmericas Inc (PAS.N) when considering PepsiCo's unsolicited $7.8 billion takeover bid for its two largest bottlers.

Anesiva Inc (ANSV.O), a developer of pharmaceutical products for chronic pain, said on Thursday it will file for bankruptcy after it was unable to complete a proposed merger with Arcion Therapeutics Inc.

The number of U.S. workers filing new applications for jobless benefits unexpectedly fell last week to the lowest level in about 17 months, suggesting the economy might be on the cusp of creating jobs.

About 13 million Time Warner Cable Inc subscribers were to lose most Fox programing at midnight on Thursday unless the cable service provider reached a last-minute deal to pay fees to News Corp to broadcast the shows.

U.S. stocks ended 2009 on Thursday with their best gains since 2003, with optimism about the economy's recovery pushing the benchmark Standard & Poor's index up 23.5 percent for the year.

Despite iPods, genetic sequencing, the Internet and Twitter, nearly a third of Americans said they thought there would be more technological advances by the year 2010.

For hedge funds, 2009 will be remembered as one of the industry's best ever -- a year when managers delivered strong gains after 2008's drubbing and investors returned to the fray with new money.

U.S. auto sales are expected to end 2009 on a slight upswing in December, capping a year that saw General Motors and Chrysler collapse into bankruptcy and China overtake the United States as the biggest car market.

For hedge funds, 2009 will be remembered as one of the industry's best ever -- a year when managers delivered strong gains after 2008's drubbing and investors returned to the fray with new money.