IBT Staff Reporter

Actelion Ltd, Europe's largest biotech company, said on Thursday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) would review use of its drug Zavesca to treat a rare neurodegenerative disease early next year.

Fans have been mooning over all things Twilight since the vampire-romance film bowed so bloody well exactly a year ago. So it's no surprise that the sequel, The Twilight Saga: New Moon, is projected to sink its teeth into more than $85 million during its first weekend.

Penelope Cruz feels uncomfortable talking about nude scenes and says she has an allergy to labels, but she becomes effusive when discussing her dream year with two special films about to hit theaters.

Johnny Depp was named People magazine's sexiest man alive for a second time on Wednesday, joining an elite club of double honorees that includes George Clooney and Brad Pitt.

The number of U.S. workers filing new applications for jobless insurance was unchanged last week, according to government data on Thursday that showed the labor market was slowly healing.

Sears Holdings Corp posted a narrower-than-expected quarterly loss on Thursday, helped by the first increase in same-store sales at its Kmart unit in four years, and its shares rose 4 percent.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a lower open on Thursday after a bearish analyst comment on semiconductor stocks pressured the technology sector, even as data showed no change in weekly jobless claims.

BofA Merrill Lynch lowered its 2010 growth forecast for global semiconductor industry and downgraded ten chipmakers, including Intel Corp , turning more cautious on the group on expectations of a modest overshoot in global supply chain inventories.

Steven, we love you. But you need to get sober, and we need to find a new singer.

Democrats in the U.S. Congress are seeking government investigations into recent price increases of brand-name prescription drugs, as lawmakers finalize an overhaul of the healthcare system.

Oscar organizers joined the MTV generation on Wednesday, naming Hamish Hamilton as director of March's movie awards ceremony, and they also unveiled their shortlist of films vying for a best documentary nomination.

The Holy Grail of Michael Jackson memorabilia will go on the block on Saturday in an auction of one of the King of Pop's famous white gloves and hundreds of rock-and-roll relics.

A small number of people have died after being inoculated against H1N1 pandemic flu, but investigations have shown that the deaths are not due to the vaccines, a senior official at the World Health Organization said on Thursday.

Bon Jovi claimed its fourth No. 1 album on the U.S. pop chart Wednesday, despite a sharp drop in sales.

Increasing the levels of a message-carrying chemical in the brain may help prevent some of the memory deficits in Down syndrome that hinder learning and make it hard for the brain to develop normally, U.S. researchers said on Wednesday.

U.S. health officials distanced themselves Wednesday from controversial new breast cancer screening guidelines that recommend against routine mammograms for healthy women in their 40s and said federal policy on screening mammograms had not changed.

Sony Corp said it would launch 3D TVs and networked products and services to unleash its potential as an electronics and entertainment giant and reverse its fortunes as it heads for a second straight annual loss.

U.S. Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid released a long-awaited healthcare reform plan on Wednesday that budget analysts said would extend coverage to tens of millions of the uninsured and reduce the deficit over 10 years.

The number of U.S. workers filing new applications for jobless insurance was unchanged last week, but the four-week moving average of claims dropped to its lowest in almost a year, according to government data on Thursday that showed the labor market slowly healing.

Vivendi could exit from U.S. media group NBCU Universal as it has no intention to be part of the future joint venture being discussed by Comcast and General Electric, its chief financial officer said on Thursday.

Britain's top share index was down 0.6 percent mid-session on Thursday, dragged lower by heavyweight commodity and banking stocks, which offset gains made by defensive stocks as risk appetite waned.

The Russian rouble eased on Thursday after the central bank stepped up rhetoric against the currency's 2-1/2 month long rally, forecasting more rate cuts and proposing measures to curb speculative capital inflows.

U.S. stock index futures pointed to a solidly lower open on Thursday, as a stronger dollar pressured commodities and investors awaited weekly jobless claims data.

Japan's Sony Corp pushed back an elusive target of an operating profit margin of 5 percent to March 2013, as it heads for its second straight loss and loses ground to overseas competitors.

U.S. stock index futures were down on Thursday, as a stronger dollar pressured commodities and ahead of the release of weekly jobless claims data.

The U.S. economic recovery will be weaker than after previous deep recessions, and the high jobless rate will decline only slowly, the OECD said on Thursday.

Asia is leading the global economy out of the deepest downturn in decades but the recovery will be marred by high unemployment and huge government debt across the industrialized countries, the OECD said on Thursday.

European shares were down on Thursday, set to fall for a third consecutive session, as banking stocks weighed, while food producers also fell after Danone (DANO.PA) cut its sales growth target.

The world's key central banks will not need to start raising policy interest rates until late 2010 due to low inflation and economic slack, and can then proceed gradually, the OECD said in a report published on Thursday.