IBT Staff Reporter

Hyundai Motor Co (005380.KS) on Thursday launched a new model of its flagship mid-sized sedan the world's no. 5 automaker hopes will help it grab more of the higher end car market.

Virtual reality can let video game players escape from the real world but a group of researchers are using virtual reality to help the blind join the real world more, by navigating real places.

The California lawmaker who spearheaded a high-profile anti-obesity effort across the country's most populous state is now training his sights on sugar-sweetened drinks.

Drive-in restaurant chain Sonic Corp expects a 10 percent to 12 percent rise in 2010 profit as it expects to open more stores, but sees flat same-store sales at both partner and franchise drive-ins during the year.

U.S. hog and pork producer Smithfield Foods Inc on Thursday priced a $250 million stock offering below the closing price of the previous day, sending shares lower.

Gardasil will continue to dominate the U.S. cervical cancer vaccine market despite the expected launch of a competitor from GlaxoSmithKline, Merck & Co's chief executive said on Thursday.

Hospital-products maker Hospira Inc boosted its full-year profit and revenue forecasts on Thursday as it showcased its operations to Wall Street.

Wall Street opened flat on Thursday after FedEx Corp reported in-line quarterly profits and even as the latest labor and housing data indicated an economic recovery was gaining steam.

Mary Travers, who was part of the band Peter, Paul and Mary who were famous in the sixties Greenwich Village folk scene died Wednesday at Connecticut hospital after battling leukemia for several years.

Web start-up companies at this year's Tech Crunch conference face a financial climate that has dried up venture capital, forcing them to turn to friends, family and foundations.

Toyota Motor Corp (7203.T) is preparing a $1 billion marketing campaign to boost U.S. sales in the fourth quarter, while also planning to expand its line of hybrid models under the Prius name, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

Private equity firms Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co, Thomas H. Lee Partners, and Providence Equity have submitted bids for Cox Enterprises' Travel Channel, a source familiar with the matter said.

Goldman Sachs downgraded Medco Health Solutions to neutral from buy on valuation and said anticipation over a potential captive pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) acquisition has been adding support to the company's shares.

Geely Automotive (0175.HK), the Chinese carmaker whose parent is eyeing Ford's (F.N) Volvo unit, has approached Canadian auto parts maker Magna International about possibly taking a stake in Opel, a source said.

Singer Chris Brown began his 180-day court ordered community service in Richmond, Virginia.

In the game of climate poker, developing nations might feel they have the right cards on the table in U.N. talks after ramping up efforts to curb greenhouse gas output.

The global auto supply sector needs further consolidation, U.S. billionaire investor Wilbur Ross said, adding he was looking at potential acquisition targets, including at least one in Europe.

Major developing nations have announced steps over the past year to curb their growing greenhouse emissions as the world tries to negotiate a broader, and tougher, U.N. pact to slow the pace of climate change.

British gas prices firmed early on Thursday following a strong rally in the U.S. natural gas market overnight and firm oil prices, while prompt power prices eased on solid supply margins.

Australia's competition regulator plans to allow U.S. major Chevron Corp and partners to jointly market gas from the Gorgon project in Australia to domestic consumers, it said on Thursday.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a flat to lower open on Thursday as FedEx Corp reported in-line quarterly profits and even as the latest labor and housing data indicated an economic recovery was gaining steam.

Petronet LNG, India's biggest gas importer, plans to build two power plants for about 70 billion rupees ($1.5 billion) partly funded through a rights equity issue, the Economic Times reported on Thursday.

Japan's new energy minister said he aims to expand the nation's electricity feed-in tariff scheme to other energy sources beyond solar power within two years, to help meet the new government's goals to cut greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent below 1990 levels by 2020.

Oil prices fell to around $72 a barrel on Thursday after rising more than 5 percent this week as swollen U.S. distillate stocks such as diesel offset positive sentiment in other markets.

China's Geely Automobile has approached Magna International about joining the Canadian auto part maker's bid for Opel, a source familiar with the matter said, as China chases Western brands and the technology it needs to drive future growth.

Australia's futures exchange operator ASX Ltd plans to establish a futures market for renewable energy by the end of the year as the country seeks to quadruple green power generation by 2020.

Southern California Edison's 1,070-megawatt Unit 2 at San Onofre nuclear power station in California exited an outage and ramped up to 60 percent power by early Thursday, the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission said in a report.

New U.S. housing starts and permits rose in August to their highest level in nine months and the number of people filing of unemployment benefits fell last week, evidence a solid economic recovery was underway.

The founders of Skype have sued owner eBay Inc and an investor group that has agreed to buy the Webphone service, accusing them of copyright violation and potentially disrupting the $1.9 billion deal.