IBT Staff Reporter

Chemicals maker DuPont is close to a deal to buy Danish food ingredients and enzymes company Danisco for more than $5 billion, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday.

The most significant arrival at this year's Detroit auto show is something of a throwback to the heady days of the late 1990s: optimism that growth is accelerating in an infamously cyclical industry.

Duke Energy Corp is near $13 billion-plus deal to buy Progress Energy Inc , a move that would create the largest U.S. power company, sources familiar with the matter said.

Pressure is growing on Portugal from Germany, France and other euro zone countries to seek financial help from the EU and IMF to stop the bloc's debt crisis from spreading, a senior euro zone source said on Sunday.

Brazil is ready to take further steps to stop its currency from rising, the country's Finance Minister said on Sunday, warning of a trade war if government's keep pushing down exchange rates to boost exports.

One thing's for sure: no one at the Federal Reserve is leaping out of their chair to defend the central bank's mandate to ensure full employment from proposals it focus solely on delivering price stability.

If there was any doubt that the global economy remains tightly intertwined, rising commodity prices should put it to rest.

Shoppers will continue to spend more this year, spurred by a slowly improving job market and an uptick in income, but enough shoppers are still struggling with their finances that any increase will be modest, a retail industry expert said.

A coalition of seven major public pension systems, led by New York City Comptroller John Liu, has asked the boards of four of the largest U.S. banks to examine their mortgage and foreclosure practices.

To hear a number of prominent economists tell it, it doesn't look good for the U.S. economy, not this year, not in 10 years.

The vote on repealing the Obama healthcare reform law, originally slated for this week in the House of Representatives, has been postponed, due to the shootings in Arizona Saturday morning that killed six people and seriously wounded U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords, D-AZ.

The U.S. military is looking to cut back on F-35 jet fighter purchases in its largest, but increasingly delayed aviation program, whose rising costs have received Congressional scrutiny.

Investors head into this week on the defensive as the potential for U.S. equity gains could be limited even if earnings begin on a strong note.

A celebrity gossip website on Friday posted a photo that it claims shows Inland Rep. Mary Bono Mack in a playful, but compromising position.

Follow the FA Cup action live through IBTimes minute-by-minute reports of Manchester United Vs Liverpool!

Portugal denied on Sunday that it is under pressure by France and Germany to seek a bailout from Brussels and the IMF to ease concerns over its debts, like Greece and Ireland before it.

It's the FA Cup third round, the stage where the Premier League clubs enter the competition, and nothing catches as the eye as Liverpool's visit to Old Trafford to face Manchester United on Sunday.

The former chairman of Anglo Irish Bank apologised for his role in the collapse of Ireland's third biggest bank, which forced the government to nationalise it two years ago.

Toyota Motor Corp said on Sunday it will open a new advanced safety research facility at its technical center in the U.S. state of Michigan, spending $50 million over the next five years.

Ford Motors unveiled its first all-electric car, Focus, which is expected to get up to 160km on a single charge.

London-listed miner Xstrata is close to winning the $8 billion auction for Colombia's second-biggest coal miner, British newspaper The Sunday Times said, without citing sources.

Speculation could push oil prices to rise to $110 per barrel within a few weeks, which may prompt OPEC to raise production, a member of Kuwait's Supreme Petroleum Council said on Sunday.

With rumours that Mark Zuckerberg has announced closure of the site, thousands are scurrying for answers on internet. Google Trends, Twitter and Yahoo Answers has been set on fire with the questions 'Is Facebook shutting down?'.

Duke Energy Corp , the third-largest U.S. power company, is in talks to acquire rival Progress Energy Inc in a deal worth more than $13 billion that could be announced as soon as Monday, the Financial Times reported on Saturday.

Hackers have attacked North Korea's official Youtube and Twitter accounts, posting a cartoon showing Kim Jong-il's heir apparent driving a sports car into a crowd of starving countrymen.

The FBI is investigating whether the suspect in Saturday's shooting rampage in which a congresswoman was critically wounded was the same person who posted a rambling Internet manifesto accusing the government of mind control and demanding a new currency.

UPDATED: U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords, D-AZ, is fighting for her life following surgery for a gunshot wound to the head, sustained Saturday morning at a constituent event in Tucson. Her surgeon, Dr. Peter Rhee of University Medical Center, said, I am very optimistic about her condition.

The United States and its leaders are stuck in their own Catch 22. They need the economy to improve in order to generate jobs, but the economy can only improve if people have jobs. They need the economy to recover in order to improve our deficit situation, but if the economy really recovers long term interest rates will increase, further depressing the housing market and increasing the interest expense burden for the US.

Verizon Wireless, the top U.S. mobile provider, plans on Tuesday to unveil a version of the Apple Inc iPhone for its service and will kick off sales of the device a few weeks later, a source told Reuters.