IBT Staff Reporter

A Chinese government spokesman said Barack Obama should be especially sympathetic to China's opposition to the Dalai Lama and Tibetan independence, as a black president who lauded Abraham Lincoln for helping abolish slavery.

North Korea said the South will pay an expensive price for firing at Pyongyang's retreating patrol boat on Tuesday, keeping up its saber rattling two days after a naval gunfight raised tension between the rivals.

Western Australia state has raised the stakes in its demand for higher royalties from iron ore miners Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, telling them that it would not rubber-stamp their planned iron ore merger.

The United States is concerned about corruption and poor governance in Afghanistan and has raised those issues with the administration of President Hamid Karzai, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on Thursday

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will accept the recommendation of independent election experts on Thursday to postpone the vote he had scheduled for January, senior officials said.

Russia's pro-Western opposition on Thursday dismissed President Dmitry Medvedev's promises to reform the political system as empty and said they saw little prospect of an easing of Kremlin domination.

Department store operator Kohl's Corp reported a larger-than-expected quarterly profit on Thursday, but gave a holiday-period outlook that was below Wall Street estimates.

President Barack Obama leaves for Asia on Thursday with the U.S. economy, jobs and a yawning trade deficit with China looming large on his agenda.

Taylor Swift, Lady Antebellum, Brad Paisely, Darius Rucker and Sugarland were among the winners at the 43rd Country Music Association Awards in Nashville Wednesday.

The Dow and the S&P 500 indexes were flat to slightly lower on Thursday, threatening to snap a six-session rally for the Dow, after a Wal-Mart Stores Inc forecast sparked concerns about consumer spending.

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A merger between British Airways and Spain's Iberia looked imminent on Thursday as their boards held separate meetings to discuss a deal to create the world's third-largest airline by revenue.

Charla Nash literally had her face ripped apart in February this year when her friend's 200-pound pet chimpanzee attacked her.

Australia said it will invest $50 million to develop green technologies in India, in a sign Canberra was trying to bridge differences with New Delhi over climate change negotiations.

The Obama administration's pay czar said on Thursday his compensation rulings will allow General Motors Co and Chrysler Group to retain talent but is willing to consider lateral offers to hire new executives.

Japan will reassure the United States that their alliance is in good shape, Tokyo said on Thursday, as a feud over a Marine base strains relations ahead of a visit by President Barack Obama.

Activision Blizzard Inc said it sold 4.7 million copies of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 for $310 million on its first day, setting a new record for the video game industry.

The Dow and S&P 500 indexes turned positive in early trading on Thursday, led by gains in technology stocks, erasing losses shortly after the open.

The words attorney and entrepreneur are rarely uttered in the same sentence and the path can be daunting for lawyers who strike out on their own.

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra has stormed into the No. 1 position on the national DVD sales charts.

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.

Teenage singing sensation Taylor Swift claimed a piece of music history on Wednesday when she became the youngest artist ever to win the coveted title of Entertainer of the Year at the Country Music Awards.

Former heavyweight boxing champion Mike Tyson was arrested on Wednesday after brawling with a celebrity photographer at Los Angeles International Airport and injuring the man's head, police said.

Britney Spears has a message for the critics who savaged her performance during her first tour of Australia -- it's all for the fans.

Aerosmith frontman Steven Tyler joined estranged bandmate Joe Perry on stage in New York in hopes of setting the record straight about the future of the feuding rock group.

The boards of British Airways and Spain's Iberia are holding separate board meetings to consider a merger to create the world's third largest airline by revenue, they said on Thursday.

Wall Street was set to open lower on Thursday as a weak holiday quarter forecast from retail giant Wal-Mart Stores Inc sparked concerns about consumer spending, threatening to break a six-session rally for the Dow.

CNN host Lou Dobbs, whose outspoken views on U.S. immigration have made him one of the most controversial figures on television, said on Wednesday he is leaving the 24-hour cable news network immediately because he wants a freer platform to state his opinion.

Woody Harrelson rarely fails to surprise.