IBT Staff Reporter

South Korea said on Saturday it would support direct talks between the United States and North Korea so long as they were aimed at advancing multilateral negotiations on ending Pyongyang's nuclear programs.

One of the original leaders of the Cuban revolution and current vice president Juan Almeida has died of heart failure at the age of 82, state-run press reported on Saturday.

President Barack Obama broadened his pitch for healthcare reform to Americans who have health insurance on Saturday, reminding them that they risk losing the coverage they have under the current system.

The global economic crisis will continue and countries must do more to adopt financial market regulations, International Monetary Fund Managing Director Dominique Strauss-Kahn told a German magazine on Saturday.

Cadbury turned up the heat in its defense against a takeover from Kraft as its Chairman Roger Carr said it was an unappealing prospect being absorbed into Kraft's low growth conglomerate business model.

U.S. puts new duty on Chinese-made tyres - Additional 35 percent for first year - China denounces step as dangerous protectionism - China signals possible complaint to WTO - Dispute could spill over into G20 summit (Adds Chinese minister's comments and press comment in paragraphs 3-5, 9 and 25)

Cadbury turned up the heat in its defense against a takeover bid from Kraft on Saturday as its Chairman Roger Carr said it was an unappealing prospect being absorbed into Kraft's low growth conglomerate business model.

New York-based private equity firm Quadrangle Capital Partners will substantially close its London office and pursue its European investments out of the United States, an investor letter dated Friday said.

A dozen or so financial companies, from banks to asset managers, are planning initial public offerings by year's end, betting that investors are over their aversion to the sector a year after Wall Street's crisis boiled over.

Canadian retailer Dollarama Inc, backed by private equity firm Bain Capital, has filed for an initial public offering on the Toronto Stock Exchange, according to a regulatory filing.

Efforts by private equity firms to sell stakes in portfolio companies through initial public offerings continued late this week as two North American companies took steps toward coming to market.

Amid the flurry of announcements Apple made Wednesday, the company quietly released the latest version of its iPhone operating system. And as is often the case with iPhone updates, Steve Jobs giveth some new features and Steve Jobs taketh away others.

Canadian billionaire James Balsillie was told on Friday that he will need to apologize and show humility if he wants to one day achieve his dream of owning one of North America's professional ice hockey teams.

U.S. regulators seized Corus Bank on Friday in the fourth-largest bank failure this year and sold its deposits to MB Financial Bank.

Japan Airlines Corp is seeking a capital injection of about 50 billion yen ($550 million) from Delta Air Lines, as well as several billion yen from Air France-KLM, Japan's national broadcaster NHK reported on Saturday.

The Walt Disney Co on Friday announced a deal with The Beatles' company, Apple Corps, to remake the band's movie Yellow Submarine in 3-D, extending the Fab Four's presence in the 21st century.

U.S. regulators seized Corus Bank on Friday in the fourth-largest bank failure this year and sold its deposits to MB Financial Bank .

Lauren Bacall, whose sultry roles in film noir movies To Have and Have Not, The Big Sleep and Dark Passage earned her Hollywood immortality, is to get an honorary Oscar.

There's just no slowing down Elvis Costello.

First-time feature film director Kevin Tancharoen grew up watching the movie Fame. Now, the 25-year-old dancer, choreographer and video director -- who has worked with Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera and who directed the MTV series Twentyfourseven and DanceLife -- presents his contemporary take on the classic tale of the pursuit of dreams.

Writer Larry Gelbart, who developed the hit television show M*A*S*H that uncovered a rich wellspring of comedy and pathos in war, died of cancer on Friday at age 81.

A collection of Andy Warhol paintings valued in the millions of dollars has been stolen from the home of a Los Angeles businessman, police said on Friday.

U.S. infusion of federal funds into clean technology projects has prevented the collapse of many green firms, revived enthusiasm and is now generating optimism for the emerging sector in 2010.

Former Pennsylvania coal miner Richard Trumka isn't president of America's biggest labor federation yet, but he's already cranking up rhetoric on issues from healthcare reform to making it easier to unionize.

Columbia University said on Friday that its endowment lost 16.1 percent in its last fiscal year, far less than its Ivy League rivals Harvard and Yale.

The ACORN scandal video and transcript were released Thursday by the news website BigGovernment.

Auto parts supplier Magna is discovering that its customers like BMW are concerned that it may become a competitor as well as a vendor if it acquires a controlling stake in German carmaker Opel.

The Obama administration is launching a broad push for action on financial regulatory reform, returning to a key legislative priority even as the debate over healthcare consumes the U.S. Congress.

With Cadbury lacking a white knight bidder to come to its rescue in the face of Kraft's $16.1 billion bid, the two companies are set to face off on one question: How much is Cadbury really worth?