IBT Staff Reporter

At a Qualcomm investor's conference on Thursday, CEO Paul Jacobs unveiled the first smartbook on the market, made by Lenovo and sold by AT&T, using a Qualcomm chip.

Starbucks Corp Chief Executive Howard Schultz said McDonald's Corp's McCafe launch earlier this year made the cafe chain better.

U.S. stocks extended losses on Thursday, with the S&P 500 index down 1 percent, as a fall in oil's price weighed on shares in the energy sector.

U.S. stocks fell on Thursday as a stronger dollar weighed on commodity-linked shares and a guarded outlook from Wal-Mart Stores Inc led to worries about the strength of consumer spending.

A former CIA agent whose unmasking led to the conviction of former Vice President Dick Cheney's top aide lost an appeal on Thursday to declassify parts of her memoir.

Richard Curtis is better known for the films he wrote than the films he directed, but he sees himself working behind the camera more and more.

News Corp President Chase Carey said on Thursday a deal that would give Comcast Corp control over NBC Universal could end up being burdened by regulatory conditions.

CNN reporter John King will replace controversial departing host Lou Dobbs in a new weeknight political program on the 24-hour cable news network, CNN said on Thursday.

President Barack Obama said on Thursday he planned to discuss a strategy with Asia Pacific leaders calling on their countries to import more U.S. goods and the world to rely less on exporting to the United States.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc expects an extremely competitive holiday shopping season, but its treasurer said on Thursday that weekly price cuts are driving consumers to its U.S. stores and Walmart.com is seeing record hits after it slashed book prices.

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Thursday the U.S. troop presence in Afghanistan, currently under presidential review, was not open-ended, putting more pressure on Kabul to improve security and fight corruption

Portraying Leonardo da Vinci or World War II in a video game is challenging game developers to mix fun with facts while academics hope this growing genre will get players more interested in history.

Six provincial governors from Indonesia, Laos and the Philippines on Thursday backed an expanded U.N. scheme aimed at protecting and conserving forests in return for carbon credits.

Apple Inc said on Thursday it plans to open 40 to 50 retail stores next year as the consumer electronics giant expands its reach to customers.

Leonora Walet, Asia Green Investment Correspondent

World leaders are setting their sights on completing an international deal on combating global warming by the middle of next year, a U.N. official said

Industrial production in the Eurozone continues to increase, suggesting that the region's overall economy may post a growth for the first time in over a year.

Owning more than 3,000 dresses, many of them designer, many from a era long gone, is a dream for most women. For Charlotte Smith, it's a reality.

Fang Yan and David Lin

Nissan Motor, expected to return to profitability in the current financial year, hopes to maintain the improved earnings momentum into 2010, its chief executive said on Thursday, driven largely by growth in emerging markets such as China.

Nouriel Roubini, one of the few economists who accurately predicted the magnitude of the financial crisis, said on Thursday that a double-dip recession can be avoided if stimulus measures are unwound properly.

European shares edged up to a three-week closing high on Thursday with telecom shares leading the advance after soothing earnings results and airlines gaining ground on merger news.

The following are planned mergers under review by the European Commission and a brief guide to the EU merger process:

The U.S. dollar rallied broadly in technical trading after a weekly jobless report triggered strength in the U.S. currency and momentum pushed it further through key levels. While the dollar's early gains came against the yen after a report showed initial weekly jobless benefit claims lower than expected, dollar strength spilled over against the euro.

U.S. mall owner Developers Diversified Realty Corp (DDR.N) may sell most of its planned $400 million commercial mortgage bond at yields well below existing issues, according to Thomson IFR on Thursday.

President Dmitry Medvedev pledged on Thursday to disband Russia's inefficient state corporations, created by his predecessor Vladimir Putin, and called for a probe in to their use of state money.

The fall in the handset market stopped in the third quarter, helped by clearing of inventories of unsold phones and booming sales on the so-called grey market in countries like China, research firm Gartner said on Thursday.

Apple Inc said on Thursday it plans to open 40 to 50 retail stores next year as the consumer electronics giant expands its reach to customers.

Customers who visit GameStop Corp stores will soon be able to purchase digital upgrades to their favorite video games, as the retailer eyes a shift toward digital distribution of games.