IBT Staff Reporter

Once a Russian spy, later a model posing for an erotic shoot in Agent Provocateur lingerie for Maxim, now in search of promising career in the country's politics -- the flamed-haired beauty, Anna Chapman, has now joined a youth political movement in Russia. The 28-year-old glam-girl is one of 11 alleged Russian secret agents deported by US in July this year.

Stock index futures were little changed in light volume on Thursday ahead of a busy day for economic data as Wall Street approached a fourth straight week of gains.

Oil prices held above $90 a barrel, close to their highest in two years on Thursday, after cold weather boosted demand and U.S. stockpiles shrank.

California-based start up Lookout Mobile Security, a provider of smartphone protection software, said it raised a further $19.5 million in funding led by Index Ventures.

Almost 5 million Britons are expected to go online on Christmas Day and spend over 150 million pounds ($232 million) as they look to grab bargains and beat a rise in January in VAT sales tax, a retail group said on Thursday.

The nomination of Nobel prize-winning economist Peter Diamond to the Federal Reserve's Board was scuttled on Wednesday when the Senate failed to vote on it before adjourning for the year.

He is not in favour of intermingling the story with other Marvel films like 'Thor' and 'Avengers'

World stocks hit their highest level since September 2008 on Thursday while oil held near a two-year peak as favorable U.S. data reinforced expectations economic growth will retain momentum into next year.

She is tangled in an assault case with a staffer at Betty Ford Center

The new structure gives debt-holders a stake and JP Morgan arranges $500 million

Oil prices climbed toward a two-year high on Thursday as cold weather in the United States boosted demand, slashed stockpiles and contributed to a stronger-than-expected rise in fuel consumption in 2010.

Asian shares edged higher on Thursday with gains led by resource-linked stocks, and oil traded just below the two-year high it hit yesterday on cautious but growing optimism of the health of the world economy.

Problems with the euro are being solved, and the single currency will survive, a member of the European Central Bank Governing Council, Marko Kranjec, said on Thursday.

Stock index futures pointed to a flat opening on Wall Street on Thursday, with futures for the S&P 500 down 0.04 percent, Dow Jones futures up 0.01 percent and Nasdaq 100 futures up 0.01 percent at 0917 GMT (4:17 a.m. ET).

China is willing to help countries in the euro zone return to economic health and will support the International Monetary Fund element of a bailout package for the bloc, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said on Thursday.

Sony Corp is in talks to buy a Japanese microchip production line from Toshiba Corp for an estimated 50 billion yen ($598 million) to boost its output of chips for cameras and mobile phones, an industry source said on Thursday.

Resources-linked stocks rose and oil climbed toward the $91 per dollar mark for the first time in more than two years after latest U.S. data offered yet another sign that the world's biggest economy is on the mend.

President Barack Obama said on Wednesday that he will work to change the politics of the immigration debate on children of illegal immigrants in 2011 by engaging Republicans and making his case to the American people to pass the DREAM Act.

Starbucks Corp unveiled new details about its unraveling relationship with Kraft Foods Inc on Wednesday, ahead of a court conference on Kraft's request to force Starbucks to stop plans to take over distribution of its packaged coffee.

Death sentences in the United States continued to decline with just 46 executions in 2010, down 12 percent compared to a year earlier.

Lawyers for 20 U.S. states and Obama administration sparred in a Florida court over the constitutional challenges of the new healthcare law that requires all Americans to have medical insurance before 2014 or face a fine.

Google said it bought a new office building in New York, in a deal reportedly for $1.77 billion.

China Tel will be putting $62 million into selling internet protocol telephony in Peru, via its subsidiary Perusat.

A former head of a talent agency has sued Jonathan Bristol, a former law firm partner of Winston & Strawn LLP, and the law firm, and is holding them accountable for the $2 million allegedly misappropriated from his investment account.

For the U.S. e-commerce industry, last week was one for the record books. Online holiday shoppers spent $5.499 billion from December 13 to December 19, according digital trends tracking firm comScore.

When the return on savings is less than the rate of inflation it doesn't matter that gold doesn't provide you with an income. Tightly supplied and indestructible, it offers a natural and obvious alternative to cash. Inflation expectations are rising as 2011 begins.

The long fight for healthcare and compensation for Ground Zero workers is finally over. The U.S. Senate today passed the James Zadroga 9/11 Health and Compensation Act by unanimous consent.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has charged Jonathan Bristol, a former law firm partner, with aiding and abetting Kenneth Ira Starr's Ponzi scheme by allowing Starr to use his attorney trust accounts as conduits for transferring the funds stolen from Starr's clients to Starr and his two companies for personal use.

The company says it's returning to normal and that the problem was offline supernodes.