IBT Staff Reporter

As Dubai developers reassured the world their ambitious construction projects would go ahead, officials from the emirate were expected in New York to shore up confidence after a debt landslide threatened its top companies.

Small particles from traffic and heating oil combustion may cause children younger than two to wheeze and cough, according to a new study.

Business leaders are watching Copenhagen climate talks, which might launch new, bigger carbon markets and help drive investment in green technologies.

European carbon emissions futures fell five percent to a new two-week low on Thursday due to deadlocked U.N. climate talks and warnings by ministers that they could fail, traders said.

Following are notable quotes about U.N. climate talks in Copenhagen on Thursday, where negotiations were deadlocked with just one day left to work out a new deal to combat global warming after two years of work.

U.S. President Barack Obama heads to Copenhagen on Thursday to help secure a U.N. climate pact, staking his credibility on an as yet elusive deal that has ramifications for him at home and on the world stage.

The U.S. Senate staggered toward the healthcare finish line on Wednesday, as Republicans used new tactics to delay debate and a Democratic holdout remained uncommitted after meeting President Barack Obama.

Russia's UC RUSAL, the world's biggest aluminum maker, may not be able to sell IPO shares to retail investors even if it wins approval for its increasingly troubled $2 billion Hong Kong initial public offering.

Nearly 20 percent of the U.S. population -- or almost 60 million people -- went without health insurance at some point since January 2008, according to government estimates released Wednesday.

Danish hosts re-launched U.N. climate talks on Thursday after the United States backed a $100 billion (62 billion pound) global fund to support poor countries and world leaders gathered for a final effort to reach a deal.

Rite Aid Corp posted its 10th straight quarterly loss as customers cut back on discretionary purchases and the drug store chain worked on refreshing its stores to reignite sales growth.

Genes may explain why some people are more susceptible than others to leprosy, an extensive study in China published in the New England Journal of Medicine appears to have found.

Scientists have indentified all the changes in cells of two deadly cancers to produce the first entire cancer gene maps and say the findings mark a transforming moment in their understanding of the disease.

Arturo Beltran Leyva, the chief of an important Mexican drug cartel, was killed at his apartment on Wednesday in Cuernavaca, south of Mexico City, the Mexican Navy said in a statement.

The old-style sales rep may have had his day thanks to shifts in the pharmaceutical market and a cost-cutting drive by drug companies.

U.S. motorhome maker Winnebago Industries Inc said its quarterly loss narrowed as demand for its biggest and most profitable vehicles showed signs of life, and it announced plans to boost production.

Wall Street was set to open lower on Thursday as the Federal Reserve's growing optimism about the economy boosted the U.S. dollar to the detriment of equities, while FedEx shares fell as it forecast lower profit.

The number of workers filing new applications for jobless insurance unexpectedly rose last week, according to government data on Thursday that still suggested the labor market was improving.

Boosting Broadband; Banks' New Rules; Treasuries harder to buy

The Danish Underground Consortium's (DUC) oil output from Denmark's part of the North Sea rose by 3.1 percent in November from October, operator A.P. Moeller-Maersk said on Thursday.

FedEx Corp forecast third-quarter profit below analysts' expectations, sending the package delivery giant's shares down 3.6 percent in premarket trading.

Irish oil and gas explorer Petroceltic International Plc said it took over as operator of a permit in Italy, raising its stake to 70 percent from 40 percent, as part of a farm-in deal with a unit of Canada's Cygam Energy Inc.

India said on Thursday rich countries were set to launch a propaganda campaign wrongly blaming poor nations if a U.N. summit in Copenhagen failed to reach a deal to combat global warming.

U.S. stock index futures fell on Thursday, a day after the Federal Reserve voiced growing optimism about the economy, boosting the U.S. dollar even as interest rates stayed at historic lows.

Big banks will have to set aside more profits or even raise capital as protection against hard times under tighter proposals from international regulators set to be phased in from 2012.

Danish brewer Carlsberg said moves by Russian beer sellers to stock up before a tax hike takes effect next year will boost its 2009 operating profit by close to $60 million above previous guidance.

General Mills Inc posted a better-than-expected 50 percent increase in quarterly profit, helped by strong sales of higher-margin products like cereal and falling commodity costs.

(Corrects previous 2010 forecast to range of $4.40-$4.45 from $4.40-$4.50)

It is getting harder for governments to buy U.S. Treasuries because the United States' shrinking current-account gap is reducing supply of dollars overseas, a Chinese central bank official said on Thursday.