IBT Staff Reporter

The U.S. economy strengthened as the year drew to a close, according to a report from the Federal Reserve on Wednesday that cited rising employment levels across the country.

U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday after a healthy bond auction in Portugal eased nervousness about the euro zone's debt crisis while a spike in food prices lifted agricultural shares.

The U.S. economy strengthened as the year drew to a close, according to a report from the Federal Reserve on Wednesday that cited rising employment levels across the country.

The United Auto Workers has had preliminary private discussions with some nonunion automakers about organizing U.S. plants as it aims to expand to Asian and European companies, UAW President Bob King said on Wednesday.

The Nigerian naira NGN=D1 depreciated further against the dollar at both the interbank market and official window on Wednesday as the central bank was unable to meet demand for the greenback at its auction.

Toyota Motor Corp is planning to mass-produce lithium ion batteries for its plug-in hybrid vehicles from this autumn as Panasonic Corp and Hitachi Ltd get set to churn out similar products of their own, the Nikkei business daily reported.

Nigeria's fast-moving consumer goods sector is attracting foreign investors as parent companies pump cash into local units to offset slowing growth at home.

Kenya's tax revenues rose by 16.2 percent to 303.1 billion shillings in the first half of the 2010/11 fiscal year, but still fell short of its target for the period.

Kenya Power, the country's sole power distributor, will lean on soft financing and may turn to the bond market, its chief executive said after unveiling results of a 9.5 billion shillings cash call.

Ghana's inflation slowed to a new 18-year low of 8.58 percent in December, feeding expectations the West African economic heavyweight will keep its policy interest rate on hold in the short term.

Ghana, the latest entrant to the club of African oil producers, has sold its first crude oil exports to Exxon Mobil Corp., oil trading sources said on Wednesday.

Three hotel employees were charged in Mauritius on Wednesday in connection with the murder of an Irish woman honeymooning on the Indian Ocean island, its commissioner of police told Irish radio.

Rebecca Kadi Loburang Dinduch -- thought to be the oldest voter in south Sudan's secession referendum -- arrived at the polling booth in a five-car convoy to cast her ballot for independence.

Two Ugandan journalists have been arrested over a cartoon of President Yoweri Museveni on the cover of their magazine which referred to his 24 years in power and asked Where next?, their lawyer said on Wednesday.

Cameroon will take a 207 billion CFA concessionary loan from the Export-Import Bank of China to fund construction of a deep sea port at Kribi, the government said on Wednesday.

Libya has abolished taxes and custom duties on locally-produced and imported food products in response to a global surge in food prices, Oea online newspaper reported.

The Obama administration is exploring ways to boost tax incentives for corporate investment in the United States, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said on Wednesday, ahead of his meeting with chief financial officers from some of America's biggest companies.

Investors are likely to pour more funds into Egypt in 2011 as a strengthening economy and attractive yields outweigh a fragile social backdrop and uncertainty ahead of a presidential election.

Arizona enacted a law on Tuesday that will forbid picketers to come within 300 feet of a funeral or burial service, a move meant to reduce the impact of planned protests of Arizona shooting victims by members of a Kansas-based church known for protesting the funerals of U.S. soldiers.

Sarah Palin has broken her silence on the Arizona shootings, striking back at critics who have implied, or said outright, that Palin was to some degree culpable for inspiring the assassin Jared Lee Loughner due to shooting metaphors Palin has used in political campaigns.

Niger denied on Wednesday it was holding two suspected militants believed to have been involved in the kidnapping and killing of two French nationals at the weekend, contradicting a previous report.

South Sudan moved a step closer to independence on Wednesday after organisers of its secession referendum said the vote's turnout would pass the 60 percent threshold it needed to be binding.

Amazon's Infrastructure-as-an-offering (IaaS) the EC2, though synonymous with cost savings for businesses, is also gaining reputation as a potential tool in the hands of malicious code crackers.

U.S. stocks rose on Wednesday after a healthy bond sale in Portugal eased nervousness about the euro zone's debt crisis and investors pushed U.S. bank shares higher on signs of strength.

Livestock put a lot of stress on the environment through greenhouse gas emissions. A group of Dutch scientists has asked whether insects might replace cattle as food and cut the environmental impact.

U.S. bank stocks rose as a broker upgrade and a successful bond sale by debt-ridden Portugal added to a mood of optimism.

The social networking site continues its free fall by cutting 47 percent of its workforce.

President Barack Obama is getting a bump in his approval ratings from an improving economy but Americans want him to focus on reducing debt and spending, a Reuters/Ipsos poll showed on Wednesday.

U.S. bank stocks rose as a broker upgrade and a successful bond sale by debt-ridden Portugal added to a mood of optimism.